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AMNIOTIC FLUID COMPOSITION IN MALFORMATIONS OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
Article first published online: 23 AUG 2005
DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1972.tb15771.x
Issue
1471-0528/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=b4e1d96c46e18c61210d584b63c13ee375cf562b "BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology")
BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Volume 79, Issue 2, pages 154–158, February 1972
Additional Information
How to Cite
Emery, A. E. H., Eccleston, D., Scrimgeour, J.B. and Johnstone, M. (1972), AMNIOTIC FLUID COMPOSITION IN MALFORMATIONS OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 79: 154–158. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1972.tb15771.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 23 AUG 2005
- Article first published online: 23 AUG 2005
- Abstract
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- Cited By
Summary
In pregnancies in which the fetus had a malformation of the central nervous system (anencephaly, spina bifida, or anencephaly with spina bifida) amniotic fluid levels of 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5HIAA), expressed on a protein basis, were less than in normal pregnancies of comparable gestation. This was not observed with a number of other substances present in amniotic fluid nor in 5HIAA levels in cases of polyhydramnios where the fetus was normal. The urinary excretion of 5HIAA in children with spina bifida was normal. A number of possible interpretations are discussed, including the idea that the reduced levels of 5HIAA may reflect the reduction in functioning neural tissue in more severe CNS malformations.