Levels of estriol in non-pregnant women do not change much after menopause, and levels are not significantly different from levels in men.
Use in screening
Estriol levels can be measured to give an indication of the general health of the fetus. DHEA-S is produced by the adrenal cortex of the fetus. This is converted to estriol by the placenta.If levels of "unconjugated estriol" are abnormally low in a pregnant woman, this may indicate a chrmosomal or congenital anomalies like Down's syndrome or Edward's syndrome. It is included as part of the triple test & quadrupole test for antenatal screening for fetal anomalies.
Because many pathological conditions in a pregnant woman can cause deviations in estriol levels, these screenings are often seen as less definitive of fetal-placental health than non-stress testing. Conditions which can create false-positives and false-negatives in estriol testing for fetal distress include preeclampsia, anemia and impaired kidney function.
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Friday August 08, 2008 at 12:03:44 PDT (GMT -0700)
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