[Maternal serum screening: possibilities of using in the complex diagnosis of fetal malformation]

Along with ultrasonography, maternal serum screening is an initial stage of a diagnostic process of genetically determined fetal malformation. Based on the performed clinical and statistical study, the author estimated the values of alpha-fetoprotein and beta-subunit of chorionic gonadotropin if the fetus has malformations of the central nervous system, heart, anterior abdominal wall, and urinary tract and Down's syndrome. The informative value of alpha-fetoprotein was confirmed in malformations of the anterior abdominal wall (gastroschisis, omphalocele) and the central nervous system (hydrocephalus, spinal hernia) and that of chorionic gonadotropin in Down's syndrome in a fetus of 15 to 24 weeks gestation.