Lucida GrandeOMIM on AT says:
Waldmann and McIntire (1972) showed raised
alpha-fetoprotein in the blood of patients with AT. This, they felt,
suggests immaturity of the liver and is consistent with the view that
the primary defect is in tissue differentiation, specifically, a
defect in the interaction necessary for differentiation of
gut-associated organs such as the thymus and liver.
Ishiguro et al. (1986) concluded that the
elevated alpha-fetoprotein in patients with AT probably originates in
the liver.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?208900
Dr Jonathan Kay
On Monday, February 11, 2002, at 03:55 , Grimes, Helen, UCHG wrote:
49 year old female, with hypertension, on HRT, had
hysterectomy, seen by
Dermatologist for a rash, ataxia telangiectasia was queried but
outruled.
Well except for left flank pain.Liver function, porphyrins, Creactive
protein, "everything" normal. Normal ultrasound of liver, CT scan. No
liver
biopsy. aFetoprotein = 7.7 ng/ml consistently since August '01, when
it was
first measured. We regard levels >5 as being significant, in the sense
of
warranting closer scrutiny. Apparently afetoprotein can be elevated in
ataxia telangiectasia, does anyone know why? Any other ideas as to the
cause
of a moderate but constant fetoprotein at this level, or is it simply
"normal" for this individual.
Dr Helen Grimes
Department of Clinical Biochemistry
University College Hospital
Galway
Ireland
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