Mother's blood test may predict SIDS

During pregnancy, a blood test called alpha-fetoprotein can determine a woman's risk of having a child with birth defects. Recent research suggests that this test can also predict a lethal problem that occurs after birth - sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The researchers point out that SIDS is still the single most important cause of infant death in the industrialised world. Researchers from the Cambridge University in the UK, analysed data from women who had given birth in western Scotland between 1991 and 2001. A total of 214,532 live births were recorded, among which there were 114 SIDS deaths, yielding a rate of 5.3 deaths due to SIDS per 10,000 live births. Alpha-fetoprotein tests had been performed during the second trimester of pregnancy. Women with the highest alpha-fetoprotein levels were twice as likely to have an infant who died from SIDS than women with the lowest levels. Alpha-fetoprotein is a marker of how well the placenta is functioning. It is a protein that circulates in the blood of the baby and crosses the placenta. High levels of this protein in the mother's blood indicate that the placenta is not functioning optimally. The researchers also noted that alpha-fetoprotein is not a predictive diagnostic test and women with elevated alpha-fetoprotein levels should not be concerned that their infant is at high risk of SIDS. In the current study, the rate of SIDS among women with the highest alpha-fetoprotein levels was still quite low - just 7.5 cases per 10,000 live births. The findings suggest that the vulnerability of an infant to environmental factors is determined to a significant extent by conditions in the womb.

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