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First‐trimester maternal serum unconjugated oestriol and alpha‐fetoprotein in fetal Down's syndrome
Author(s) -
Crandall Barbara F.,
Golbus Mitchell S.,
Goldberg James D.,
Matsumoto Myles
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
prenatal diagnosis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.956
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1097-0223
pISSN - 0197-3851
DOI - 10.1002/pd.1970110606
Subject(s) - medicine , alpha fetoprotein , obstetrics , gynecology , down syndrome , chorionic villus sampling , fetus , first trimester , prospective cohort study , second trimester , pregnancy , biology , psychiatry , hepatocellular carcinoma , genetics
Maternal sera (MS) taken from 1396 women prior to chorionic villus sampling at 9–12 menstrual weeks were assayed for unconjugated oestriol (uE3) and alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP). Median levels increased by 41 and 26 per cent per week respectively in normal pregnancies. There were 32 pregnancies with a chromosome abnormality. The median MS uE3 and AFP were 0.73 and 0.75 multiples of the median (MoM) respectively in the ten cases of Down's syndrome (DS) but not decreased in the other abnormalities. These results suggest that both uE3 and AFP may be useful in identifying DS in the first trimester. Additional prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.