Biomaterial Database

Elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP): interpretation and follow-up. 1988

B K Burton

Department of Pediatrics, Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27103.

Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening should be offered to all patients as a routine component of prenatal care. The benefits of MSAFP screening have far exceeded early expectations. This technology not only provides an efficient and cost-effective method of screening for neural tube defects that is applicable to all pregnancies but also provides the physician with important information relevant to other complications of pregnancy. Our knowledge of variables affecting MSAFP levels measured during pregnancy is rapidly evolving and further refinements in the application of MSAFP screening will almost certainly occur. Such refinements can only serve to extend the benefits of this new and very valuable technology in improving the health and well-being of mothers and infants.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008403	Mass Screening	Organized periodic procedures performed on large groups of people for the purpose of detecting disease.	Screening,Mass Screenings,Screening, Mass,Screenings,Screenings, Mass
D009436	Neural Tube Defects	Congenital malformations of the central nervous system and adjacent structures related to defective neural tube closure during the first trimester of pregnancy generally occurring between days 18-29 of gestation. Ectodermal and mesodermal malformations (mainly involving the skull and vertebrae) may occur as a result of defects of neural tube closure. (From Joynt, Clinical Neurology, 1992, Ch55, pp31-41)	Craniorachischisis,Developmental Defects, Neural Tube,Diastematomyelia,Exencephaly,Neurenteric Cyst,Spinal Cord Myelodysplasia,Tethered Cord Syndrome,Acrania,Developmental Neural Tube Defects,Iniencephaly,Neural Tube Developmental Defects,Neuroenteric Cyst,Occult Spinal Dysraphism,Occult Spinal Dysraphism Sequence,Tethered Spinal Cord Syndrome,Acranias,Craniorachischises,Cyst, Neurenteric,Cyst, Neuroenteric,Cysts, Neurenteric,Cysts, Neuroenteric,Defect, Neural Tube,Defects, Neural Tube,Diastematomyelias,Dysraphism, Occult Spinal,Dysraphisms, Occult Spinal,Exencephalies,Iniencephalies,Myelodysplasia, Spinal Cord,Myelodysplasias, Spinal Cord,Neural Tube Defect,Neurenteric Cysts,Neuroenteric Cysts,Occult Spinal Dysraphisms,Spinal Cord Myelodysplasias,Spinal Dysraphism, Occult,Spinal Dysraphisms, Occult,Tethered Cord Syndromes
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011296	Prenatal Diagnosis	Determination of the nature of a pathological condition or disease in the postimplantation EMBRYO; FETUS; or pregnant female before birth.	Diagnosis, Prenatal,Fetal Diagnosis,Fetal Imaging,Fetal Screening,Intrauterine Diagnosis,Antenatal Diagnosis,Antenatal Screening,Diagnosis, Antenatal,Diagnosis, Intrauterine,Prenatal Screening,Antenatal Diagnoses,Antenatal Screenings,Diagnosis, Fetal,Fetal Diagnoses,Fetal Imagings,Fetal Screenings,Imaging, Fetal,Intrauterine Diagnoses,Prenatal Diagnoses,Prenatal Screenings,Screening, Antenatal,Screening, Fetal,Screening, Prenatal
D005260	Female		Females
D005315	Fetal Diseases	Pathophysiological conditions of the FETUS in the UTERUS. Some fetal diseases may be treated with FETAL THERAPIES.	Embryopathies,Disease, Fetal,Diseases, Fetal,Embryopathy,Fetal Disease
D005500	Follow-Up Studies	Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.	Followup Studies,Follow Up Studies,Follow-Up Study,Followup Study,Studies, Follow-Up,Studies, Followup,Study, Follow-Up,Study, Followup
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000465	Algorithms	A procedure consisting of a sequence of algebraic formulas and/or logical steps to calculate or determine a given task.	Algorithm
D000509	alpha-Fetoproteins	The first alpha-globulins to appear in mammalian sera during FETAL DEVELOPMENT and the dominant serum proteins in early embryonic life.	alpha-Fetoprotein,alpha Fetoprotein,alpha Fetoproteins