title: Extensive bowel resection in infancy is another cause of increasing plasma alphafetoprotein concentration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Plasma alphafetoprotein (AFP) concentrations are high at birth and decline progressively to reach adult levels between eight and 24 months of age. AFP is an important tumour marker for hepatoblastoma but may also increase following hepatic resection. The liver and intestine have similar embryonic origins from endoderm, so we postulated that plasma AFP may also rise after extensive bowel resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  AFP was measured postoperatively in plasma in four infants who had undergone resections of large amounts of intestine. AFP was measured twice in two babies and multiple times in the other two.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In three of the four infants, the AFP concentrations were markedly above the expected levels for age, and in all four babies, AFP concentrations rose when they may have been expected to fall.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rising plasma AFP concentrations post extensive bowel resection in infants is a new finding which is possibly due to intestinal regeneration.
authors: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, Australia.
authors: Julian
authors: J
authors: Wojtulewicz
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Coakley
mesh_terms: D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007422:Intestines / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins