The effect of cervical/vaginal secretions on measurements of lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio and optical density at 650 nm.
Free-flowing amniotic fluid collected vaginally can be used in a reliable way for determination of fetal pulmonary maturity. Lavaging the vaginal/cervical area with sterile saline and examining the lavage fluid for lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) spots showed no detectable spots in the supernatants (one exception) and barely detectable L/S spots in the sediment. Vaginal-cervical saline-wash fluids did not affect fluid L/S ratios. Lavaging the vaginal-cervical area with abdominal amniotic fluid did not affect the L/S ratio of the original amniotic fluid.
D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000032:analysis; D002582:Cervix Mucus / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005322:Premature Rupture of Fetal Membranes / Q000175:diagnosis; D005325:Fetal Organ Maturity; D006801:Humans; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods; D013109:Sphingomyelins / Q000032:analysis*; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation; D014621:Vagina / Q000378:metabolism*
D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D013109:Sphingomyelins; D012965:Sodium Chloride