title: Amniotic fluid human chorionic gonadotrophin and alpha-fetoprotein levels in pregnancies conceived after assisted reproduction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the alteration in the second-trimester maternal serum levels of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in pregnancies conceived after assisted reproduction.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the amniotic fluid hCG and AFP concentrations of 45 pregnancies with fresh embryo transfer and 25 pregnancies with frozen-thawed embryo transfer with 269 spontaneous pregnancies. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median amniotic fluid hCG MoM in pregnancies conceived after frozen-thawed embryo transfer was significantly increased to 1.41 compared to 1.00 (p = 0.01) in naturally occurring pregnancies and 0.96 (p = 0.049) in pregnancies after fresh embryo transfer. Further analysis showed that this was only observed in frozen embryos fertilized by conventional insemination with MoM of 1.59. The AFP MoMs were similar among the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The observed raised amniotic fluid hCG level in IVF-FET pregnancies may reflect the elevated maternal serum level in these pregnancies. Further studies should be directed towards exploring the underlying pathophysiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong, Tsan Yuk Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China. pwhui@hkusua.hku.hk
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: M H Y
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: E H Y
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: W S B
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000649:Amniocentesis; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D011247:Pregnancy; D011262:Pregnancy Trimester, Second; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins