A pregnancy diagnosed solely by the detection of beta hCG in serum or urine is called which term?

A pregnancy diagnosed solely by the detection of beta hCG in serum or urine is called which term?

• A. Blastocoele
• B. Chimerism
• C. Biochemical pregnancy
• D. Bleeding after oocyte aspiration

Answer: (C)

When pregnancy is identified solely by detecting the hormone beta-hCG in blood or urine, the designation is biochemical pregnancy. This label reflects that the evidence for pregnancy is biochemical (a hormone marker) rather than visualization or clinical signs. You can have beta-hCG detectable before an ultrasound can see a gestational sac, and many biochemical pregnancies do not progress to a visible intrauterine pregnancy. The other terms don’t fit: a blastocoele is a structural feature inside a blastocyst, not a diagnostic category; chimerism refers to the presence of two distinct genetic cell lines, not a pregnancy diagnosis; and bleeding after oocyte aspiration is a procedural complication, not a term for a type of pregnancy.

When pregnancy is identified solely by detecting the hormone beta-hCG in blood or urine, the designation is biochemical pregnancy. This label reflects that the evidence for pregnancy is biochemical (a hormone marker) rather than visualization or clinical signs. You can have beta-hCG detectable before an ultrasound can see a gestational sac, and many biochemical pregnancies do not progress to a visible intrauterine pregnancy. The other terms don’t fit: a blastocoele is a structural feature inside a blastocyst, not a diagnostic category; chimerism refers to the presence of two distinct genetic cell lines, not a pregnancy diagnosis; and bleeding after oocyte aspiration is a procedural complication, not a term for a type of pregnancy.