General Obstetrics and Gynecology Fetus-Placenta-NewbornComparison of infrared spectroscopic and fluorescence depolarization assays for fetal lung maturity☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Material
Amniotic fluid specimens from third-trimester pregnancies were acquired at the fetal assessment unit of the Health Sciences Center in Winnipeg. Indications for amniocentesis included planned elective cesarean delivery and complications of pregnancy necessitating early delivery. In total samples from 101 patients were examined. For each sample of amniotic fluid the surfactant/albumin ratio was determined by a trained medical technologist with the Abbott TDx Analyzer. These assays were calibrated
Results
The study group ranged from 25 to 40 weeks’ gestation, with the average being 35.3 ± 2.5 weeks’ gestation. Most requests for surfactant status are between 32 and 38 weeks’ gestation, which was representative of our normal samples. The relationship between surfactant/albumin ratio values and the gestational ages of the subjects in our study population is shown in Fig 1.Ideally, the
Comment
In the last 20 years many tests have been developed to assess fetal lung maturity by measuring different aspects of pulmonary surfactant.13, 14, 15 For instance, a 3-year prospective study demonstrated that lamellar body counting might be appropriate as a screening test for RDS in uncontaminated specimens.13 Another simple and rapid colorimetric assay has also been proposed for the simultaneous determination of lecithin, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylglycerol in amniotic fluid.14 This
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Issued as National Research Council Canada publication No. 43154.
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Reprint requests: Henry H. Mantsch, PhD, Institute for Biodiagnostics, National Research Council Canada, 435 Ellice Ave, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 1Y6.