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EVALUATION OF MEASUREMENT OF MATERNAL PLASMA ALPHA‐FETOPROTEIN LEVELS AS A SCREENING TEST FOR FETAL NEURAL TUBE DEFECTS
Author(s) -
Bond E. B.,
Thompson W.,
Elwood J. H.,
Cran G. W.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1977.tb12655.x
Subject(s) - neural tube , fetus , medicine , spina bifida , gestation , obstetrics , pregnancy , alpha fetoprotein , neural tube defect , anencephaly , pediatrics , embryo , biology , genetics , hepatocellular carcinoma , microbiology and biotechnology
Summary Maternal plasma alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) levels were estimated on 1844 consecutive patients at the time of their first hospital antenatal visits. There were 28 pregnancies with an ‘abnormal’ outcome: 19 patients had twins, 3 had an anencephalic fetus, and 6 a fetus with a spina bifida (4 of these had an open neural tube defect). Evaluation of maternal plasma AFP levels as a screening test for neural tube defects at 15 to 19 weeks gestation indicated a sensitivity of 50 per cent taking the‘cut‐off’point as the 95th centile of the plasma AFP levels in pregnancy with a normal outcome.