title: An association between fetal abdominal wall defects and elevated levels of human chorionic gonadotropin in mid-trimester.
abstract: We analysed maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in 16 pregnancies with fetal abdominal wall defects previously identified prenatally by elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) or at birth. The AFP levels had a mean of 6.38 MOM (range 0.34-15.65), as expected with these defects. The hCG levels had a mean of 1.82 MOM (range 0.23-4.11). The hCG levels in five pregnancies (31.25 per cent) were above 2.30 MOM. Elevated levels of hCG may be associated with fetal abdominal wall defects.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Greenberg
mesh_terms: D000009:Abdominal Muscles / Q000002:abnormalities*; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006554:Hernia, Umbilical / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second / Q000097:blood; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins