Circulating levels of placental protein 5 in the mother: relation to birth weight.

A total of 914 blood samples was obtained from an unselected population of 400 women between 36 and 40 weeks gestation. Serum PP5 levels were measured by a sensitive radioimmunoassay. After ranking of PP5 levels and birth weight the value of serum PP5 in the diagnosis of intrauterine growth retardation was examined. The sensitivity, predictive value, and specificity of the test were 17.07, 16.66, and 90.25 per cent respectively; these results suggest that serum PP5 levels are less accurate than other biochemical parameters in the identification of fetal growth retardation in late pregnancy.