title: Lamellar body counts on gastric aspirates for prediction of respiratory distress syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a rapid method for diagnosing lung maturity at birth with the purpose of administering surfactant early to infants with immature lungs and to spare infants with mature lungs from this treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Lamellar body counts (LBC) on gastric aspirates from 191 newborns were counted in the platelet window in automatic blood cell counters. A preliminary study was performed on 108 aspirates from 2000 in infants with <32 weeks' gestation. Furthermore, 83 aspirates from 2004 to 2005 in infants with <30 weeks' gestation were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lamellar bodies in gastric aspirate were identified by electron microscopy. Seventy of the aspirates from 2004 to 2005 were analysed with a Sysmex XE-2100 (Sysmex, Holbaek, Naestved, Odense and Rigshospitalet, Denmark) counter. Twenty-four of these infants developed moderate to severe respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The best cut-off value was 8000/μL with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 72%. Forty-four of the 70 aspirates from 2004 to 2005 were analysed by Sysmex, Advia 120 and Cell-Dyn 4000. Thirteen other aspirates from 2004 to 05 were analysed by Sysmex and Coulter Counter LH755. Using Advia and Coulter the results were similar to Sysmex, but LBC obtained with Cell-Dyn were not correlated with the development of RDS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lamellar body counts on gastric aspirate is a promising tool for prediction of development of RDS in infants of <30 weeks` gestation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. hav@regionsjaelland.dk
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Verder
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ebbesen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Esberg
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eschen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grytter
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kroner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nørgaard
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reinholdt
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stanchev
mesh_terms: D001826:Body Fluids / Q000166:cytology; D002452:Cell Count; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D015388:Organelles / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000473:pathology*; D013270:Stomach