Plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone in newborn infants with congenital adrenal hyperplasia and in infants with normal adrenal function.

Atherden, S. M., Edmunds, A. T., and Grant, D. B. (1974). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 49, 192. Plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone in newborn infants with congenital adrenal hyperplasia and in infants with normal adrenal function. Plasma 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) was estimated in 9 infants aged 6 to 12 days with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Raised plasma 17-OHP values, ranging from 3*4 to 250*0 g/100 ml were found. 50 infants aged 10 hours to 15 days with normal adrenal function were also studied. One infant with galactosaemia had 17-OHP levels of 1 8 and 2*4 Fg/100 ml, and a further 3 infants aged 15 hours to 3 days had 17-OHP levels between 1 -1 and 2*1 jAg/100 ml. In the remaining infants, plasma 17-OHP was less than 10 Fg/100 ml. It therefore appears that estimation of plasma 17-OHP provides a useful method for confirming the diagnosis of CAH during the newborn period.