Prediction of respiratory distress syndrome by a new colorimetric assay

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical performance of a new, simple, and rapid colorimetric assay for predicting respiratory distress syndrome. Ninety-four specimens obtained within 3 days of delivery were assayed with the new test. For 78 of these specimens, the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio was also determined. Significant differences were calculated with chi 2 analysis. Cutoff points were selected by maximizing the corresponding sums of sensitivity and specificity and from receiver-operator-characteristic curves. The specificity of the new colorimetric test was better than 89%, and it yielded more than 86% correct diagnoses. Furthermore, the test had a significantly (p less than 0.05) lower percentage of false-immature results than that obtained with the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio. Moreover, the new test performed relatively well in analyses of patients between 27 weeks and 36 weeks' gestation. We concluded that the new assay is reliable and that it can serve as a useful alternative to current methods for predicting respiratory distress syndrome.