Radioimmunological assay of alpha-fetoprotein in maternal serum and intrauterine fetal growth retardation

Maternal plasma alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was measured in fifteen women during first-mid-third-trimester of pregnancy. In three of these pregnacies by means ultrasound was relevable a condition of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). AFP was assayed by a double-antibody radioimmunoassay and values were compared with the median value of the normal range for the particular week of pregnancy. Plasma AFP levels were significantly higher in one subject with IUGR than in other patients.