Maternal serum CA 125 levels in pregnancies with chromosomally-normal and -abnormal fetuses |
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| Authors: | J M M Van Lith A Mantingh H W A De Bruijn For the Dutch Working Party on Prenatal Diagnosis |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Groningen, Oostersingel 59, 9713 EZ Groningen, The Netherlands;2. Participating centres and coordinators: University Hospital Groningen, as above;3. Rijnstate Hospital Arnhem, M. D. Kloosterman;4. University Hospital Leiden, H. H. H. Kanhai;5. Academic Medical Centre Ansterdam, H. Wolf;6. Medical Spectrum Enschede, E. Everhardt;7. University Hospital Utrecht, G. C. M. L. Christiaens. |
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| Abstract: | We measured the maternal serum cancer antigen 125 (MS-CA 125) levels in 98 nonpregnant women, 765 first- and second-trimester pregnancies with chromosomally-normal fetuses, and 54 chromosomally-abnormal pregnancies. To determine the MS-CA 125 concentration, we used a new automated microparticle enzyme immunoassay with low inter-assay variability. The median MS-CA 125 level decreased from the first to the second trimester of pregnancy and was higher than that in non-pregnant women. We found no difference between normal and Down's syndrome (n = 29) pregnancies ( t-test: t = 0·57, p >0·5). The MS-CA 125 levels in pregnancies with other chromosomal abnormalities showed no difference either, compared with the normals. We conclude that MS-CA 125 is not a useful marker for fetal Down's syndrome, nor for other chromosomal disorders in pregnancy. |
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| Keywords: | CA 125 First-trimester screening Down's syndrome Fetal chromosomal disorder |
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