[Quantitative determination of alpha-foetoprotein in perinatal medicine. Second communication: Verification of AFP concentration in umbilical cord blood of newborns as an objective parameter for assessment of gestational age (author's transl)].

AFP concentrations were recorded from umbilical cord serum of 482 newborns, with 453 of them weighing more than 2.500 gram and 29 less than 2,501 gram. The AFP values thus found were correlated with the established clinical parameters of gestation, such as birth weight, length, circumference of head, biparietal skull diameter, circumference of chest, and gestationsal age by case history. - The closest correlation between any two of the above selected clinical parameters was found to exist between AFP concentration and gestational age by case history, whereas correlations were least close between AFP and biparietal diameter. Measurement of AFP in umbilical cord blood is considered to be merely a complementary criterion for assessment of gestational age by clinical parameter, because of too large scatter of individual data.