Test battery:
(1) fluoresence polarization and/or lamellar body number density
(2) phosphatidylglycerol (if person has poorly controlled diabetes mellitus)
Specimen Assessment
If the specimen is unsatisfactory, then stop further assessment on it. Collect a satisfactory specimen.
Immature
If the specimen is immature either by fluorescent polarization or by lamellar body number density, then the fetal lungs are immature.
If the specimen is mature by fluorescent polarization or lamellar body number density, and if the patient has poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, and if the specimen is immature by phosphatidylglycerol, then the fetal lungs are considered immature.
Mature
If the specimen is mature by fluorescent polarization or lamellar body number density, and if the patient does not have poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, then the fetal lungs are mature.
If the specimen is mature by fluorescent polarization or lamellar body number density, and if the patient has poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, and if the specimen is mature by phosphatidylglycerol, then the fetal lungs are considered mature.
Notes:
(1) The criterion for maturity of uncentrifuged lamellar body number density was 45,000 per µL.
(2) The L/S ratio demonstrates a relatively high coefficient of variation.
