Human placental lactogen levels in multiple pregnancies.

Serum human placental lactogen (hPL) levels were measured in duplicate with a radioimmunoassay in 206 serum samples at 30 and 36 weeks' gestation from women with normal singleton pregnancies (75) or pregnancies with twins (37). One triplet pregnancy was also studied. The results show a significant elevation of hPL in the women with twin pregnancies at both the 30th (7.0 vs 6.0 microgram/ml) and the 36th (9.2 vs 7.4 microgram/ml) weeks. One-third of the twin pregnancies had values of hPL in excess of 8.0 microgram/ml at 30 weeks and more than half had values in excess of 9.0 microgram/ml at 36 weeks. The triplet pregnancy had an hPL value of 11.0 microgram/ml at 36 weeks' gestation. These data support the potential usefulness of serum hPL measurements in the screening profile for the detection of high-risk pregnancies.