Prediction of Fetal Lung Maturity from Near-Infrared Spectra of Amniotic Fluid

K. Z. Liu, M. K. Ahmed, T. C. Dembinski, H. H. Mantsch*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to attempt to correlate the quantitative data obtained from the near-infrared (near-IR) spectra of amniotic fluid with the lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio determined from thin layer chromatographic analysis on the same samples, in order to establish the feasibility of near-IR spectroscopy as an alternate method for the prediction of fetal lung development.

METHODS: Samples of amniotic fluid were obtained by amniocentesis from 52 patients between the 26th and 41st week of pregnancy. About 350 microliters of amniotic fluid was required to record the near-IR spectrum over the entire spectral range between 400 and 2500 nm using a commercial spectrometer. The L/S ratio was determined independently by thin layer chromatography (TLC) for each sample. For correlating the infrared spectra with the TLC-based L/S ratios, a partial least squares analysis was used.

RESULTS: The L/S ratios predicted from the near-IR spectra of amniotic fluid were highly correlated and in excellent agreement with those determined by TLC (r = 0.91).

CONCLUSION: Near-IR spectroscopy has the potential to become an alternate method to TLC for prediction of fetal pulmonary maturity.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)161-168
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Volume57
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 15 1997
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Obstetrics and Gynecology

Keywords

  • Amniocentesis
  • Fetal lung maturity
  • Near-infrared spectra
  • Phospholipid profile
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Humans
  • Phosphatidylcholines/analysis
  • Sphingomyelins/analysis
  • Gestational Age
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Pregnancy
  • Prenatal Diagnosis/methods
  • Lung/embryology
  • Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Amniotic Fluid/chemistry
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Fetal Organ Maturity

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