title: Determination of bile acid concentration in human amniotic fluid for prenatal diagnosis of intestinal obstruction.
abstract: Bile acid concentration was measured in amniotic fluid obtained for standard indications from 11 healthy pregnant women without polyhydramnios (28 to 42 weeks of gestation) and from 9 patients with polyhydramnios (28 to 38 weeks of gestation). Two of the latter women delivered infants with intestinal obstruction distal to the papilla of Vater, a condition that causes regurgitation of bile into the amniotic fluid. In the women without polyhydramios, the total bile acid concentration ranged from 1.4 to 2.4 micronmol/liter. In the seven patients with polyhydramnios not associated with fetal intestinal obstruction, the bile acid concentration in amniotic fluid was not significantly different (0.9 to 1.9 micronmol/liter). By contrast, the bile acid concentration in amniotic fluid specimens from the two patients with polyhydramnios who gave birth to children with intestinal obstruction was considerably elevated (30.3 to 83.1 micronmol/liter). These findings suggest that determination of bile acid concentration in amniotic fluid permits prenatal diagnosis of intestinal obstruction distal to the papilla of Vater.
mesh_terms: D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000032:analysis*; D001647:Bile Acids and Salts / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005333:Fetus; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis
chemical_list: D001647:Bile Acids and Salts