title: Urinary beta-core hCG: screening for aneuploidies in early pregnancy (11-14 weeks' gestation).
abstract: Initial studies at 17-22 weeks' gestation evaluating urinary beta-core human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) as a marker for Down's syndrome had suggested that it may have more potential than its serum counterpart. This study measured maternal urinary beta-core-hCG and creatinine at 11-14 weeks' gestation in a series of 26 aneuploidies (nine trisomy 21, five trisomy 18, four 45,X0, and eight others). The normal range for beta-core-hCG and beta-core-hCG/ creatinine was derived from 198 normal singleton pregnancies. Trisomy 18 cases (n = 5) had low maternal urinary beta-core-hCG creatinine levels (median 0.35 MOM, range 0.08-0.82 MOM). Whereas the other aneuploidies had no particular pattern; in particular, the trisomy 21 cases (n = 9) (median 1.16 MOM, range 0.3-4.74 MOM) did not differ significantly from 1 MOM. The findings imply that maternal urinary beta-core-hCG is not as discriminating for Down's syndrome between 11 and 14 weeks as later on in pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Harris Birthright Centre, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, U.K.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Macintosh
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Nicolaides
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Noble
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chard
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gunn
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iles
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000782:Aneuploidy; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human / Q000652:urine*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; D003404:Creatinine