Epidermal growth factor during pregnancy- a predictor of fetal growth retardation?]

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) in urine was measured at 4-week intervals in 83 women referred for suspected intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR); 138 women with normal singleton pregnancies and newborns of normal weight served as controls. Of the 83 women, 30 delivered babies with weight below the 10th percentile after week 37. During pregnancy these women had shown significantly lower EGF levels than women who delivered normal-weight babies. However, due to the wide distribution of individual EGF data, no clear clinical cut-off point between normal and IUGR values could be established.