Abstract

In the 2016 guidelines, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM) pointed out that the changes in amniotic fluid surfactants are slight, the sensitivity of fetal lung maturity detected by amniotic fluid is low and the role is limited. Therefore, a reliable non-invasive fetal lung maturity assessment technology is urgently needed to help obstetricians assess fetal lung maturity (FLM) and choose the right time to apply glucocorticoids to improve neonatal outcomes. In this study, an automatic quantitative ultrasound analysis of fetal lung texture (quantusFLM) was used to predict neonatal dyspnea. A total of 70 woman at 29.2–38.5 weeks of gestation were enrolled. They were classified as three groups: 24 cases at 24–33+6 weeks, 16 at 34–36+6 weeks and 30 at 37–39 weeks. The quantitative ultrasound fetal lung maturity analysis (quantusFLMTM) was performed. There were significant differences in the lung maturity results among groups (p <0.05). These differences were established between the 24–33+6 weeks group and both the 34–36+6 weeks (p = 0.006) and 37–39 weeks (p = 0.006) groups. There were no statistically significant differences between 34–36+6 weeks and 37–39 weeks group test results. Early-term preterm infants are more at risk of dyspnea than late-term preterm infants and early-term newborns. QuantusFLM evaluates fetal lung maturity predicted neonatal dyspnea with a sensitivity, specificity and accurace value of 83.1%, 81.8% and 82.9%. In low-risk results of the test, the infant at 24–33+6 weeks group should be alert to the existence of fetal inflammatory response syndrome. Because fetal inflammatory response syndrome promotes fetal lung maturity and fetal lung maturity is relatively high. quantusFLM is a new fetal lung maturity predict neonatal dyspnea. It has the advantages of non-invasive, feasibility, repeatability and good accuracy. It is expected to help clinicians perform fetal lung maturity.

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