title: Maternal serum markers. Estimation of the risk of Down's syndrome: a prospective study.
abstract: The risk of Down's syndrome pregnancies can be estimated by quantitation of maternal serum markers, namely alpha-fetoprotein, unconjugated estriol and human chorionic gonadotropin (triple test). A prospective study of 2892 pregnant women (median age 33.5 years) is reported. The detection rate of Down's syndrome pregnancies was 80% (confidence intervals 45%-100%) when a risk of 1:380 or greater was considered "screen positive", the false positive rate was 13.3% (confidence intervals 12.0%-14.5%). The importance of the accurate assessment of gestational age and the time of blood sampling are emphasized. Our findings are compared with similar studies performed in other laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Ente Ospedaliero Sant'Anna, USL-IX, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perona
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dall'Amico
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bollati
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Albano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mazzone
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grosso
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Migone
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fiocchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004964:Estriol / Q000097:blood*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D008403:Mass Screening; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood*; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins; D004964:Estriol