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Changes in the concentration of alpha‐fetoprotein and placental hormones following two methods of medical abortion in early pregnancy
Author(s) -
Thong K. Joo,
Norman Jane E.,
Baird David T.
Publication year - 1993
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.1471-0528.1993.tb15175.x
Subject(s) - abortion , pregnancy , alpha (finance) , hormone , obstetrics , alpha fetoprotein , medicine , andrology , endocrinology , biology , clinical psychology , genetics , construct validity , hepatocellular carcinoma , psychometrics
Objective Measurement of alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) was used to investigate the occurrence of feto‐maternal haemorrhage in women undergoing medical abortion. Design Three groups of women with amenorrhoea of 56 or less days were studied. A control and a mifepristone group had two blood samples taken 48 h apart. Women undergoing medical abortion with gemeprost had two blood samples taken 24 h apart. Setting Medical Termination Unit, Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion, Edinburgh. Subjects Three hundred and thirty‐five women requesting abortion. Interventions Blood samples taken at 24 h or 48 h apart. Measurements and main results The rise in concentration of AFP in plasma was much higher ( P = 0.01 ) in the two groups of women in whom abortion was induced by gemeprost or mifepristone than in control women. Whereas only 5% of women in the control group had a significant rise in AFP, 27% and 33% of women in the mifepristone and gemeprost groups, respectively, had a rise in AFP level which exceeded the 95th centile (≥38%). The concentration of hCG rose by 48 h in both control and mifepristone groups. Progesterone remained unchanged, and oestradiol decreased ( P <0.02 ) in the mifepristone group. By 24 h, there was a significant fall in the concentrations of hCG, progesterone and oestradiol in the group who had aborted after being given gemeprost. Conclusions Anti‐D prophylaxis must be administered to rhesus negative women to avoid rhesus iso‐immunisation.