Assessment of placental function in normal and pathological pregnancies by estimation of plasma oestradiol levels after injection of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate.

A test of placental function was assessed by measurement of plasma oestradiol levels in 32 patients after intravenous injection of 50 mg dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHAS). Every pregnant patient showed a rise in plasma oestradiol after DHAS; two puerperal patients showed no rise. It was not possible to distinguish the variable response in normal pregnancy from that in patients with severe hypertension and proteinuria or with retarded intrauterine fetal growth. The test was of no value in one hypertensive patient as a predictor of fetal death eight days later or, in another, to confirm fetal death of two days duration. Our results do not suggest that this test is a useful addition to currently available tests of placental endocrine function.