The Clinical Efficacy of Lamellar Body Count to Predict Fetal Lung Maturity.

Kim, Ji Young; Yang, Jeong In; Kim, Haeng Soo; Chang, Ki Hong; Kwon, Hyuk Chan; Ryu, Hee Suk; Oh, Kie Suk

Original Article

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 1997;40(9):1840-1845.
Published online January 1, 2001.

The Clinical Efficacy of Lamellar Body Count to Predict Fetal Lung Maturity.

Ji Young Kim, Jeong In Yang, Haeng Soo Kim, Ki Hong Chang, Hyuk Chan Kwon, Hee Suk Ryu, Kie Suk Oh

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.

Abstract

From July 1994 through August 1995, 31 patients who delivered before 37 weeks gestation at the Ajou University Hospital were tested for lamellar body count in the amniotic fluid. The obtained results are summarized as follows; 1. Lamellar body count was associated with 1 minute Apgar score(p=0.02). 2. There was no sexual, gestational and birth weight differences in the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome. 3. Lamellar body count showed that the positive predictive value for respiratory distress syndrome was 90.0 %, the negative predictive value was 95.2 %, and the sensitivity was 90.0 %, and the specificity was 95.2 %, therefore it may be regarded as more accurate than other previously employed methods. This study suggests that the lamellar body count reflects fetal lung maturity sufficiently to assure that the neonate will not develop respiratory distress syndrome, and can be used as a quick screening test or one in series of tests for thorough assessment of fetal lung maturity.

Key Words: Lamellar body count, Fetal lung maturity, Amniotic fluid