title: Second trimester levels of maternal serum inhibin A in pregnancies affected by fetal neural tube defects.
abstract: Inhibin A is effective as a second trimester maternal serum marker for Down syndrome screening. In the present study, inhibin A levels were measured in second trimester maternal serum samples from 28 pregnancies affected with open neural tube defects; 12 associated with open spina bifida and 16 associated with anencephaly. Each measurement was expressed as a multiple of the median (MoM) for control singleton pregnancies (n=1464) of the same completed week of gestation. Inhibin A levels were not significantly altered in cases of open neural tube defects; the median value was 0.96 MoM in cases of open spina bifida and 1.19 MoM in cases of anencephaly. Therefore, second trimester maternal serum inhibin A levels will not have an impact on prenatal detection of open neural tube defects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Women & Infants Hospital, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island, Scarborough, Maine, USA. gmesserl@wihri.org
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Lambert-Messerlian
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Palomaki
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Canick
mesh_terms: D000757:Anencephaly / Q000097:blood; D004964:Estriol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007265:Inhibins / Q000097:blood*; D009030:Mosaicism; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000097:blood; D014424:Turner Syndrome / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D007265:Inhibins; D004964:Estriol