title: Transient respiratory difficulty following cesarian delivery.
abstract: 57 newborn infants delivered by planned, repeat cesarian section were studied to determine the role of surfactant in transient neonatal respiratory distress. 22.8% of the newborn infants studied had transient tachypnea of the newborn. The mean amniotic fluid lecithin-sphingomyelin ratio (L/S) was 2.8 in normal infants and 2.6 in infants with transient tachypnea. The mean gastric aspirate L/S at the time of delivery was 3.0 in the normal infants and 2.7 in infants with transient tachypnea. There were no statistically significant differences in either amniotic fluid L/S or gastric aspirate L/S. Based on these results we speculate that, despite altered lung mechanics in neonates with transient tachypnea, lung maturity as determined by L/S ratio does not differ from that of normal neonates.
mesh_terms: D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000032:analysis; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005750:Gastric Juice / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000032:analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000032:analysis; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D013109:Sphingomyelins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D013109:Sphingomyelins