A blood test can check for rising levels of alpha fetoprotein, indicative of fetal problems.

Alpha fetoprotein: A substance produced by the fetus.

Serum alpha fetoprotein is not elevated in classical seminoma.

To test for the birth defects, technicians first look for the fetal protein, alpha fetoprotein, in the pregnant woman's blood.

This might suggest that assay of α fetoprotein concentration alone is better at detecting Down's syndrome than triple testing.

Certain body chemicals such as alpha fetoprotein and beta human chorionic gonadotrophin are produced by some testicular cancers.

Measurements of a fetoprotein concentrations alone or with one other serum test have been classed as a fetoprotein tests.

The benefits of serum alpha fetoprotein and abdominal sonography as screening tools for HCC have not been studied in children.

The converse, however, is the case, and the difference can probably be explained simply by the more widespread use of assay of α fetoprotein concentration during the period studied.

We learnt prenatal diagnostic methods (screening of α fetoprotein concentration, triple testing, etc) from experts in Britain and have helped to develop new primary preventive methods.

Such tumor markers are, for instance, CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) and AFP (alpha fetoprotein).

From Mutton and colleagues' raw data, assay of serum α fetoprotein concentration detected 21% of the detected cases in women under 35 while triple testing detected only 17%.

In the fourth phase of progress, population-based antenatal screening - maternal serum alpha fetoprotein and ultrasound screening, sometimes complemented by amniocentesis - has been proven to have a substantial effect.

As they report in the current issue of The Lancet, a British medical journal, alpha fetoprotein and estriol levels are low in the first trimester in blood of women carrying fetuses with Down's syndrome.

For example, it is estimated that about 60% of Down's syndrome and other trisomic syndromes can be detected using the triple test (maternal serum α fetoprotein, unconjugated oestriol, and human chorionic gonadotrophin, combined with maternal age).

Some clinicians recommend monitoring HBV-infected children or adolescents for HCC with baseline screening and then yearly determinations of serum alpha fetoprotein levels and abdominal ultrasonography; however, no data support the benefit of such surveillance (641,657,659,660).

Some experts will perform periodic sonographic screening at defined intervals (every 2--5 years) in children with chronic HCV infection; others will do these tests only in those with advanced liver disease and/or rising serum alpha fetoprotein concentrations (748).

Other tests may include liver function tests (LFT), CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, biphasic helical CAT scan, alpha fetoprotein, PIVKA-II, glucose, hepatitis screening, and ECG.

Second trimester maternal serum screening (AFP screening, triple screen, quad screen, or penta screen) can check levels of alpha fetoprotein, β-hCG, inhibin-A, estriol, and h-hCG (hyperglycosolated hCG) in the woman's serum.

The researchers have discovered, by chance more than by design, that at about 16 to 18 weeks into gestation fetuses with Down's syndrome are making abnormally small amounts of two fetal proteins, estriol and alpha fetoprotein, and abnormally large amounts of another, human chorionic gonadotropin.

Same Blood Sample Used Doctors already routinely obtain blood samples from women at the 16th week of pregnancy to test for alpha fetoprotein levels as a screening test for neural tube defects, developmental defects that can often lead to partial paralysis and sometimes to mental retardation.

Women with high levels of the protein in their blood are referred for sonograms and those with suspicious sonograms are referred for amniocentesis, in which doctors examine the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus and confirm the high levels of alpha fetoprotein.

Although no evidence-based long-term monitoring guidelines exist for children with perinatally acquired HCV, many experts monitor HCV RNA levels and serum transaminase levels every 6--12 months and hemogram and serum alpha fetoprotein levels annually (748).

Serological studies (for the markers α fetoprotein, β human chorionic gonadotrophin and carcinoembryonic antigen) are generally of little use because of their lack of specificity and are generally used to monitor patients with tumours of known primary site - for example, CA125 in ovarian cancer.

First trimester maternal serum screening can check levels of free β-hCG, PAPP-A, alpha fetoprotein, intact or beta hCG, inhibin-A, or h-hCG in the woman's serum, and combine these with the measurement of nuchal translucency (NT).