LOW URINARY ŒSTRIOL EXCRETION DURING PREGNANCY IN WOMEN GIVING BIRTH TO INFANTS WITH DOWN'S SYNDROME

Abstract

Abnormally low œstriol excretion was observed in nine out of twelve pregnant women who gave birth to infants with Down's syndrome as the only major abnormality. Among five thousand pregnant women seen in an 8-year period the frequency of abnormally low œstriol excretion was 16%. The low œstriol excretion observed is not thought to be caused by prenatal complications alone, or by fetal malnutrition, but by isolated defects in the endocrine fetoplacental system (especially in the fetal hypothalamus, pituitary, or adrenal cortex) which may indeed persist after birth.