These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Lecithin-sphingomyelin ratios in amniotic fluid of pregnancies with an anencephalic fetus.
    Author: Parker CR, Leveno KJ, Milewich L, MacDonald PC.
    Journal: Obstet Gynecol; 1986 Oct; 68(4):546-9. PubMed ID: 2944043.
    Abstract:
    As many investigators have shown that surfactant production in the developing human lung is subject to multihormonal regulation, the present authors determined the lecithin-sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio in amniotic fluid of pregnancies with an anencephalic fetus, in which there was known to be aberrant production of fetal pituitary, adrenal, and consequently, placental hormones. The L/S ratio in amniotic fluid from seven of eight pregnancies with an anencephalic fetus was substantially lower than that in amniotic fluids of pregnancies with a normal fetus at the same stage of gestation. The L/S ratio in amniotic fluid of an anencephalic fetus of a twin pregnancy (monochorionic diamniotic) at 34 weeks' gestation was low; the L/S ratio of the amniotic fluid of the normal fetus was high. These data are supportive of the view that fetal lung maturation is dependent, in part, upon normal function of the fetal pituitary and adrenal.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]