Amniotic fluid phosphatidylglycerol and the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio in the assessment of fetal lung maturity

Summary. Based on the analysis of 561 amniotic fluid samples obtained within 72 h of delivery, including 288 samples collected from the vagina, the detection of phosphatidylglycerol (PG) in the fluid together with the determination of the lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio gave an accurate prediction of the risk of the newborn infant developing respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). In the presence of PG, regardless of the L/S ratio, only 0·6% of the babies developed RDS, while absent PG was associated with an 82·8% incidence of RDS. The predictive ability was improved by knowing the L/S ratio since in the presence of both PG and a mature L/S ratio (≥2·0), no baby developed RDS whereas 3·4% of them did when the ratio was immature despite the presence of PG. The test appears to be a useful determinant of the risk of RDS in babies born to diabetic mothers and it seems particularly effective in assessing amniotic fluid collected vaginally. It is recommended that laboratories dealing with amniotic fluid from high-risk pregnancies should detect PG as well as measuring the L/S ratio.