title: Alpha-fetoprotein in antenatal diagnosis of congenital nephrosis.
abstract: Alpha-fetoprotein (A.F.P,) levels were found to ge significantly raised in maternal serum and amniotic-fluid samples form the 16th and 18th weeks of gestation in a woman with an apparently normal fetus but with histological evidence of congenital nephrosis of the Finnish type. Increased concentrations of A.F.P. in early pregnancy with a living fetus are therefore not specific for neural-tube defects; More likely they result from the fetal circulation. Extended investigations, including kidney morphology, should be done in cases of apparent false-positive A.F.P. tests.
mesh_terms: D000510:Alpha-Globulins / Q000032:analysis*; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D005326:Fetal Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D005387:Finland; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009401:Nephrosis / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
chemical_list: D000510:Alpha-Globulins; D005326:Fetal Proteins