[Early diagnosis of molar pregnancy by measuring AFP and HCG in serum (author's transl)].

: In 3 women with the histologically confirmed diagnosis of molar pregnancy (in one case dizygote), the time-course of the concentration of HCG and AFP was measured in serum prior to expulsion and curettage, respectively. Serum HCG was found to be in the normal range of monozygotic and dizygotic pregnancies. Contrary to that, serum AFP was lower than normally seen and showed a tendency to decline even further. This seems to indicate that AFP is a valuable diagnostic adjunct to the determination of serum HCG in the diagnosis of disturbances of early pregnancy characterized by embryonic demise (molar pregnancy, blighted ovum), as it is a parameter of fetal integrity rather than that of normal trophoblastic function.