A non-invasive method to rule out transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN): fetal pulmonary artery acceleration to ejection time ratio.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether fetal pulmonary artery acceleration to ejection time (PATET) ratio can predict or rule out subsequent diagnosis of transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN).


METHODS
This prospective cohort study included 105 pregnant women in labor, who met the inclusion criteria. Eighteen of these women were removed from the study cohort, because of an inability to acquire sufficient Doppler waveforms and a longer duration of deliveries. According to subsequent diagnosis of TTN in the neonate, the two groups were constituted, TTN+ and TTN-.


RESULTS
There were no statistically significant differences between the groups regarding maternal obstetric and demographic features. The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) submission rate was significantly higher in the TTN+ group (100%, 17%, P<0.0001, respectively). Regarding the fetal pulmonary artery Doppler findings, PATET ratio in the TTN+ group was significantly lower than the TTN- group (0.307 vs. 0.389, P<0.0001, respectively). The PATET ratio and diagnosis of TTN were inversely correlated (r=-0.41, P<0.001), even if adjusted for birth weight, gestational age and fetal gender (r=0.42, P=0.0021). The cut-off value of 0.319 provided 82.7% specificity, 83.3% sensitivity, 96% negative predictive value and 41.6% positive predictive value. Additionally intraobserver ICC for PATET was found to be 0.86.


CONCLUSIONS
The fetal PATET ratio seems to serve as a promising tool to rule out subsequent diagnosis of TTN.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
Barış
B
Büke
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
Hatice
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9613-1712
H
Akkaya
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D059245:Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014421:Turkey; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000379:methods
Fetal pulmonary artery acceleration to ejection time (PATET) ratio; fetal pulmonary artery Doppler indices; non-invasive method; transient tachypnea of the newborn (TTN)