660 dementias

now obtainable in parkinsonism would cersearch of this kind. It would be ironic to find tainly justify a therapeutic agent, or the clue to the design of one, among the rejects of military chemistry and insecticide production, but it would not be without precedent. as

is

a

683 Oak Grove Drive, Santa Barbara, California 93108, U.S.A.

ALEX COMFORT

MATERNAL SERUM-&agr;-FETOPROTEIN AND LOW BIRTH-WEIGHT

SIR,-Mass screening for neural-tube defects by

measure-

of maternal serum-a-fetoprotein (A.F.P.) has been successfully underway in Nassau County, N.Y. since October, 1976. 6031 unselected pregnancies have been evaluated and 13 neuraltube defects have been observed. Acceptance of screening has been greatly enhanced by the accuracy with which multiple pregnancies can be detected. Observations by Brock, Wald, and their colleagues1.2 of an association between raised mater-’ nal A.F.P. and low birth-weight may be another benefit of the screening process and bring it closer to wide-scale implementation. During 1975 and 1976 the number of births in Nassau County averaged 12 882. 6.9% of babies weighed less than ment

BIRTH-WEIGHT RELATED TO MATERNAL A.F.P. ABOVE OR BELOW

95TH

PERCENTILE

Results as mean and (standard erroi). Significant difference (p