Abstract
Objective: To determine if infants delivered after immature or indeterminate TDx-FLM II testing and a mature reflex test are at increased risk for neonatal respiratory complications. Methods: The primary analysis compared neonatal respiratory morbidity (RDS or TTN) in 34–39-week fetuses delivered after either (i) mature TDx-FLM II testing, or (ii) indeterminate or immature TDx-FLM II and a positive reflex test (PG or L/S ratio). Results: Fifty patients delivered after mature TDx-FLM II, and 30 after immature or indeterminate TDx-FLM II with an L/S ≥2.0. Respiratory morbidity was significantly higher in the group delivered after mature reflex testing compared with mature TDx-FLM II (23% vs. 2%, p < 0.01). When PG was present, there were no cases of RDS or TTN. Conclusions: Utilizing L/S ratios as a reflex test to confirm lung maturity was associated with a high risk for respiratory morbidity, particularly when PG was not present.
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Acknowledgments
This research was presented at 2011 Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Annual Meeting.
Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.