title: Down syndrome and low maternal serum alpha fetoprotein.
abstract: The early pregnancy maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) results for 35 patients who delivered a baby with Down syndrome (DS) were analysed. These results were collected from 1981 to mid-1989. Eight of the 35 showed an MSAFP result less than 0.5 multiples of the median (MOM). These MSAFP results were corrected for maternal weight. The results support other workers' conclusions that mid-trimester hormonal analyses may be helpful in diagnosing the presence of DS in women otherwise not considered at risk.
authors.affiliation: Westmead Hospital, New South Wales.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Giles
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins