The clinical significance of low maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein.
Lowered maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein was retrospectively investigated in 20,000 patients who underwent prenatal maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening. Two hundred thirty-two patients were initially evaluated as having maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels less than 0.25 multiple of the normal median. Correction factors, such as incorrect estimation of gestational age, reduced to 180 the number of patients with low alpha-fetoprotein. In this target group, patients with known pregnancy outcomes sustained a fetal loss in 38% of the cases. It appears that significantly low maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein is associated with a dramatic increase in second-trimester fetal wastage.
D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000097:blood; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000097:blood; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins