Lung maturation in small for gestational age fetuses from pregnancies complicated by placental insufficiency or maternal hypertension

Background: Clinical studies suggest that respiratory outcome of infants born preterm may be influenced by placental insufficiency and hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets (HELLP) syndrome. If so, one could expect to see differences in lung maturation indices (lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio and lamellar body count (LBC)) in the amniotic fluid. The present study investigates lung maturation indices of preterm small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses with or without abnormal Doppler ultrasound examination and with or without maternal hypertension/HELLP syndrome. Study design: Retrospective cohort study of 76 neonates born in our center between 1997 and 2003 with gestational age (GA) <34 weeks, birth weight