Urinary total oestrogen values determined by an automated method in normal and abnormal pregnancies.
Urinary total oestrogen values in late pregnancy have been determined by an automated, fluorimetric method based on the Kober reaction and Ittrich extraction. The normal range was obtained from 360 samples from 56 patients. The mean value at 40 weeks gestation was 52.6 mg/24 h and the 95 per cent probability bounds were 29.1 and 95.3 mg/24 h, obtained after initial calculations on logarithm values. "Small for dates" foetuses in good condition at birth were associated with oestrogen values generally below the normal mean. They were usually well discriminated from foetuses that died in the uterus. These were always associated with oestrogen values below or approaching 10 mg/24 h before death except when growth had been normal and death was due to mechanical complications at delivery.