Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening.

Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening should be offered to all patients as a routine component of prenatal care. The benefits of MSAFP screening have far exceeded early expectations. This technology not only provides an efficient and cost-effective method of screening for neural tube defects that is applicable to all pregnancies but also provides the physician with important information relevant to a number of other birth defects and complications of pregnancy. Our knowledge of variables affecting MSAFP levels measured during pregnancy is rapidly evolving, and further refinements in the application of MSAFP screening will almost certainly occur. Such refinements can serve only to extend the benefits of this new and very valuable technology in improving the health and well being of mothers and infants.