Maternal serum-alpha-fetoprotein measurements as an early indicator of low birth-weight.
In a prospective trial of 4224 pregnancies, 103 women had serum-alpha-fetoprotein (A.F.P.) above 2-3 times the median value for their stage of gestation. 10-7% of these delivered infants with birth-weights less than 2-5 kg. This was significantly greater than the rate of 4-2% for low-birth-weight infants in the general population. At higher multiples of the median serum-A.F.P. value the proportion of pregnancies leading to low-birth-weight infants was even greater. It is suggested that early identification of pregnancies with high risk of premature delivery may be an important corollary of maternal serum A.F.P. screening.
PubMed Abstracts
PubMed Abstracts