MATERNAL URINARY β-CORE hCG IN CHROMOSOMALLY ABNORMAL PREGNANCIES IN THE FIRST TRIMESTER

• Published in: Prenatal diagnosis Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 135 - 139
• Main Authors: KORNMAN, L. H., MORSSINK, L. P., WORTELBOER, M. J. M., BEEKHUIS, J. R., DE WOLF, B. T. H. M., PRATT, J. J., MANTINGH, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.02.1997; Wiley
• Subjects: Aneuploidy; Biological and medical sciences; Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human - urine; Chromosome Aberrations; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 18; Diseases of mother, fetus and pregnancy; Down Syndrome - diagnosis; Down's syndrome; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; human chorionic gonadotropin; Humans; Medical sciences; Monosomy; Mosaicism; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, First; Pregnancy. Fetus. Placenta; Prenatal Diagnosis; screening; Trisomy; urinary β-core hCG; urine analysis; X Chromosome; Chromosomal aberration; Human; Urine; Pregnancy disorders; Beta-Peptide chain; Biological marker; Aneuploidy; First trimester; Gonadotropin; Down syndrome; Glycoprotein hormone; Congenital disease; HCG; Placental hormone; Prenatal; Fetal diseases; Fetus; Diagnosis
• ISSN: 0197-3851; 1097-0223
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0223(199702)17:2<135::AID-PD41>3.0.CO;2-P

We evaluated urinary β‐core human chorionic gonadotropin (β‐core hCG) in the detection of fetal Down's syndrome (DS) in the first trimester of pregnancy. Urine was collected prior to performing chorionic villous sampling (CVS) between 10 and 12 completed weeks from the last menstrual period. In the 9 months of the study, there were 15 chromosomal abnormalities detected by CVS: five trisomy 21, four monosomy X, two trisomy 18, and four cases of confined placental mosaicism (CPM). In these 15 aneuploid pregnancies, the levels of urinary β‐core hCG were expressed as multiples of the median (MOM) of the ratio of β‐core hCG/creatinine for gestational age. The MOMs of this ratio in each of the five DS pregnancies were 0·2, 0·5, 1·3, 1·4, and 1·7. No difference was found between fetuses with DS or any of the other chromosomal abnormalities tested and normal fetuses. Contrary to optimistic reports of urinary β‐core hCG in the second‐trimester detection of fetal DS, our data suggest that this is not a useful screening test for DS in the first trimester of pregnancy. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.