Maternal serum screening for Down syndrome by using alpha-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin in an Asian population - A prospective study

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of second-trim ester maternal serum screening program by using alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and total human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in an Asian population, During Ju ne 1994 to July 1998, we conducted a prospective study of serum screening p rotocol for Down syndrome. The cut-off point for a positive result in this analysis was a risk of greater than or equal to 1/270. A total of 17,742 pr egnant women with singleton pregnancy were screened, and 1,153 (6.5%) had p ositive result. Sixteen of the 17,742 pregnancies had Down syndrome, and 10 of them had positive result. The positive rate and detective rate for Down syndrome were 6.5 and 62.5%, respectively. However, the detective rate wil l reduce to 47.6% after being adjusted by age-specific risk. It is indicate d that the double-marker test using AFP and total hCG is an effective scree n strategy for second-trimester detection of Down syndrome in Asian women. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.