Capacidad de la alfa-fetoproteína en suero materno como marcador predictivo de parto pretérmino

objective: to determine the role of alpha-fetoprotein as predictor or preterm delivery. methods: clinical, cohort, no experimental study performed in 170 patients, 85 with risk factors for preterm delivery (study group), and 85 patients with no risk factors for preterm delivery and no pathology (control group). a blood sample was taken at 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy to evaluate alpha-fetoprotein levels. setting: perinatology unit, hospital "dr. adolfo prince lara", puerto cabello. results: we found an association between the increase of alpha-fetoprotein levels in maternal serum and preterm delivery. x2 = 19.30 p< 0.05, rr = 8 ic 95 % (2.50-25.57), ra = 24.71 ic 95 % (14.36-35.05), sensibility = 79.41 %, specificity = 81.62 %, vpp = 51.92 %, vpn = 94.07 %, prevalence = 20 %, exactness = 80,51 %, correlation coefficient -0.069. conclusion: the alpha-fetoprotein has predictive capacity for preterm delivery; we recommend its use in pregnancies with risk of preterm delivery.