AMNIOTIC-FLUID 17-HYDROXYPROGESTERONE IN EARLY-PREGNANCY

The results of measurement of 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OH-P) in 125 samples of amniotic fluid (AF) from early amniocenteses are presented. The fetuses from all pregnancies studied were unaffected by congenita l adrenal hyperphasia caused by 21-hydroxylase deficiency. The AF 17-O H-P level increases slightly but significantly between the 11th and 15 th week of gestation, with a maximum in the 14th week. There is no dif ference between the values measured in male and female fetuses. The AF 17-OH-P levels from the early gestation were compared with those from the 16th-22nd week of pregnancy (published previously). The overall d ifferences of AF 17-OH-P concentrations when considered in all gestati onal age groups in the whole period 12-22 weeks were statistically ins ignificant. Thus, the biochemical prenatal diagnosis of congenital adr enal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency and control of its e arly fetal treatment could be carried out starting from the end of the first trimester in the same way as at the later period of gestation.