Why the study?
What are the normal ranges of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in early infancy?
What are the normal ranges of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in early infancy?
Clinical interpretation of hyper-alphafetoproteinemia in early infancy must be made in comparison with age-specific normal ranges, as levels naturally remain high during this period.
Age-specific AFP norms are required to interpret infant levels; leaves open larger validation before changing diagnostic thresholds.
In early infancy, the serum alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP) level remains quite high and the clinical interpretation of hyper‐alphafetoproteinemia in this age should be made in comparison with its normal ranges. We presented some illustrative cases of early infancy, whose AFP values were formerly considered abnormally high, but later found within normal ranges. Our normal ranges were obtained by statistical calculations of serum AFP values studied in normal subjects: namely infants with inguinal hernia and neonates at birth (the cord blood was used).
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Tsuchida et al. (1978) studied this question.
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