amnio/alpha feta protein question?

Question

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this. I have a relative, who is now in high school, whose mother kept getting abonormal alphafeta protein levels on her blood tests. She had an amnio done to rule out the possibility of Down's, which it turned out the baby did not have. But I was wondering if it was possible this alpha feta test could have been indicating that something else besides Down's. The boy has had numerous health problems since he was born, including being blind in one eye, having only one kidney, having only one testicle, and having symptoms of mild autism, such as rocking, dislike of physical contact, and extreme pickiness when it comes to food (he has eaten the same flavor of pop tart every day for breakfast since he learned to talk, for ex.), although his mother has never taken him to a doctor about these things so there is no diagnosis.

My question is if a low alpha feta protein level could have pointed to these issues, or if it is related to Down's only?

liela111 · Accepted Answer

Hello, your question was e-mailed to me. It is intersesting because I lost my baby, which had an abnormal level of AFP.
My baby was thought to have spinal bifida when the amnio was flagged. I was 4 monts when i had it done. I was nervous but in my heart I felt that she would be ok. I went through the rest of pregancy and the dr said it was a false positive so I continue with my pregn, and the day I went into labor, I realized something was seriously wrong when the dr couldnt find a normal heart beat. 
My baby died due to an underdeveloped heart, she fought to survive. But I guess God had other plans for her. I read up on this and I found that :    somethines these test are indicating:
*A teratoma which is a single most common tumor. 
*testicular cancer, overian cancer, or a malignant teratoma in any location of the body.
*spinal bifida
*Turner's syndrome
 these are just some of the things these test could have been flagging.
 I posted the link to where you could get more information, and ask your question. 
          I hope you find what you are looking for, and hope this helped alittle.
ww.medhelp.org/forums/gastro/archive/488.html - 16k - Cached 
 ***this is a link to where you can ask this or any other medical question, and will get a clearer answer.

you

starfire978 · Answer

The amnio would have been accurate...the alpha feta protein test can show a risk of a couple of different diseases and also has a pretty high risk of a false positive.

Shina Beana · Answer

when i was pregnant with my daughter my alphafeta protein test came back elevated and i had to have an amnio test done as well...thankfully it came back "normal"...my daughter just celebrated her first birthday last month and we havent noticed any "abnormalities" with her...maybe your friends child's problems could be related to the test, but i would say that it was a long shot...you really should talk to your friend about getting her son tested for autism..there isnt anything wrong with having an autistic child but she just needs to have a better understanding of what her and her child will go through.

Trending News

amnio/alpha feta protein question?

3 Answers