Correlation between amniotic fluid lamellar body concentrations at different gestational ages and respiratory distress syndrome

Background: Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) also known as hyaline membrane disease is the most common cause of respiratory failure in neonates. The risk of RDS rises in prematurity due to decreased production of surfactant. Lamellar bodies (LB) are storage form of surfactant and are actively secreted into the alveolar space and hence into the amniotic fluid. The objective of the present study was to find out correlation between amniotic fluid lamellar body concentrations (LBC) at different gestational ages and respiratory distress syndromeMethods: The study was a prospective observational study conducted over a period of 1 year at department of OBG, SDM college of medical sciences, Dharwad. All women undergoing caesarean section were included in the study. 5 ml of amniotic fluid was collected at the time of Caesarean section and sent to laboratory, Lamellar body concentrations (LBC) was counted in auto analyzer by platelet impedance counting. Incidence of RDS at different gestational age with an LBC cut off 40,500 was calculated.Results: Among 300 patients studied, Respiratory distress was seen in 116 (41.3%) of patients. LBC cut off of 40,500 was chosen. Out of 140 preterm babies, 121 (86.8%) had lamellar body count less than 40,500 and 19 (13.5%) had more than 40,500. There is significant correlation between decreasing lamellar body count in preterms and increasing incidence of RDS.Conclusions: LBC count increases with increasing gestational ages and is inversely proportional to the incidence of RDS in preterm newborns