Page 53 - SONO 260 The Fetal Head and Brain

NEURAL TUBE DEFECTS AND THE BRAIN
¢Fortunately, studies have shown that a supplement of 4 mg of folate (folic acid) in a woman’s diet significantly reduces the likelihood of her fetus developing a neural tube defect.
¢Screening for neural tube defects is achieved by a combination of sonography, amniocentesis, and/or maternal serum screening.
— Maternal serum screening, also referred to as the triple screen, combines the laboratory values of human chorionic gonadotropin, estriol, and maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP).
— Particularly helpful for detecting neural tube defects is the MSAFP component of this test.