Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein and previous neural tube defects.
A case-control study involving 63 pregnancies showed that women who had previously had an infant with anencephaly or spina bifida did not have raised serum alpha-fetroprotein (AFP) levels in subsequent unaffected pregnancies. The value of a serum AFP determination in such women is discussed. If the serum AFP level is normal and if ultrasonography excludes anencephaly the risk of spina bifida might be low enough (about 1 per cent) to make diagnostic amniocentesis difficult to justify. Conversely, a high serum AFP value in such women should not be acted on without confirmation of an abnormality by ultrasonography and, if that is negative, by diagnostic amniocentesis.
D000649:Amniocentesis; D000757:Anencephaly / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D005326:Fetal Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
D005326:Fetal Proteins; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins