First‐trimester maternal serum biomarkers and the risk of cerebral palsy

• Published in: Developmental medicine and child neurology 2021-02, Vol.63 (2), p.183-189
• Main Authors: Peris, Monique, Reid, Susan M, Dobie, Stephen, Bonacquisto, Leo, Shepherd, Daisy A, Amor, David J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biomarkers - blood; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Palsy - diagnosis; Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human - blood; Female; Humans; Information Storage and Retrieval; Nuchal Translucency Measurement; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, First - blood; Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A - metabolism; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 0012-1622; 1469-8749
• DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.14732

Aim To investigate whether combined first‐trimester screening (cFTS) biomarkers are associated with cerebral palsy (CP) and to identify CP characteristics associated with abnormal biomarker levels. Method In this retrospective case–control data linkage study, we matched mothers of 435 singletons with CP from a population register to their cFTS records and selected 10 singleton pregnancy controls per case. We compared mean and abnormal levels (expressed as multiples of the median [MoMs]) of pregnancy‐associated plasma protein‐A (PAPP‐A), beta subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin (β‐hCG), and nuchal translucency between cases and controls and between CP subgroups. Results Compared with control pregnancies, CP pregnancies had lower mean levels of PAPP‐A (0.95 vs 1.01 MoM, p=0.02) and β‐hCG (0.93 vs 0.99 MoM, p=0.02). Biomarker levels in CP pregnancies were 1.8 times more likely to be associated with abnormally low levels of PAPP‐A (p