Second-trimester levels of maternal serum unconjugated oestriol and human chorionic gonadotropin in pregnancies affected by fetal anencephaly and open spina bifida |
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Authors: | Jacob A Canick George J Knight Glenn E Palomakij James E Haddow |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Women and Infants Hospital, Brown University, Providence, R102905, U.S.A.;2. Foundation of Blood Research, Scarborough, ME 04074, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Unconjugated oestriol (uE3) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels were determined in second-trimester maternal serum (MS) samples from 21 pregnancies associated with fetal anencephaly and 15 pregnancies associated with fetal open spina bifida. Each measurement was expressed as a multiple of the median (MoM) for unaffected pregnancies for each completed week of gestation. In pregnancies associated with anencephaly, the median value for MSuE3 was very low (0–17 MoM, range <0·12–0·33 MoM), suggesting a functional defect in the fetal adrenal prior to 20 weeks' gestation; the median value for MShCG was also low (0–73 MoM), although not to the same extent as for MSuE3. A biological explanation for the hCG result is not apparent. In pregnancies associated with open spina bifida, the MSuE3 and MShCG values were unremarkable, consistent with a lack of involvement of these open fetal defects in the synthesis and secretion of uE3 and hCG. |
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Keywords: | Maternal serum unconjugated oestriol Maternal serum human chorionic gonadolropin Anencephaly Open spina bifida |
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