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Mid‐trimester levels of alphafetoprotein in the screening of low birthweight
Author(s) -
CHARD T.,
RICE A.,
KITAU M. J.,
HIRD V.,
GRUDZINSKAS J. G.,
NYSENBAUM A. M.
Publication year - 1986
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.1471-0528.1986.tb07810.x
Subject(s) - medicine , obstetrics , false positive paradox , gestation , predictive value , prospective cohort study , screening test , pregnancy , third trimester , first trimester , pediatrics , statistics , biology , mathematics , genetics
Summary. Elevated maternal levels of alphafetoprotein (AFP) in midtrimester are believed by some to be a useful screening test for premature labour, low birthweight and low birthweight for gestation. In a prospective study on 887 randomly selected pregnant women we found that although there was an association between low birthweight and elevated AFP, the test would miss five out of every six cases of low birthweight and there would be nine false‐positives for every case correctly identified. The test is not therefore sufficiently predictive of low birthweight to be of value as a screening test for this condition.