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CA-125 as a maternal serum marker for Down's syndrome in the first and second trimesters
C K Høgdall1, E V Høgdall, J Arends
1Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abstract:
CA-125, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) were determined in maternal serum in the first trimester from 14 women with a Down's syndrome fetus and 61 women with a healthy fetus. In the second trimester, 15 and 60 serum samples were determined from women with a Down's syndrome and a healthy fetus respectively. In both trimesters, maternal serum CA-125 was found to be elevated in Down's syndrome pregnancies compared with controls. Using discrimination functions, our preliminary results indicate that CA-125 is a better marker than AFP and HCG respectively for a Down's syndrome fetus in the first trimester and improves the detection rate in the second trimester.