Specimen Requirements

Title

Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP), Maternal Serum

Specimen Requirement

Patient Preparation
Collect sample between 15 weeks 0 days and 22 weeks 6 days gestation.

Collect SST/1.0 mL serum, allow to clot for 30 minutes, centrifuge and send with form.

A fully completed AFP Maternal Form must be sent with the sample.

Methodology

Chemiluminescence

Stability

Room temp: 7 days, Refrigerated: 7 days, Frozen: 60 days

Reference Range

The reference range is determined by the performing laboratory and will show on the report.

Turnaround

1-3 days performed Monday, Wednesday-Friday

Clinical Use

The performance of this test varies with maternal age and other clinical parameters. Recent research suggests that second trimester maternal serum screening of alpha-fetoprotein, unconjugated estriol, human chorionic gonadotropin and inhibin A (the Quad Screen) has 81% sensitivity for Down syndrome detection and a false-positive rate of 7%. This use is considered to be investigational. Follow-up testing is recommended for patients when the calculated second trimester Down syndrome risk is greater than or equal to 1: 270. Normal serum AFP levels for neural tube defects (NTD) are less than 2.0 multiples of the median (MoM). Normal values exclude approximately 95% of cases of anencephaly, 80% of cases of spina bifida, and 85% of ventral wall defects. Closed dysraphic states and small defects generally constitute the group in which total exclusion is not possible.

Test Code

MSAFP