MRS May Provide Noninvasive Way to Determine Fetal Lung Maturity

"Working in the radiology department, we feel that MRS has the potential to provide valuable information via a non-invasive method,” said May Yong, M.D., lead author of the study. "Currently the standard for determining fetal lung maturity involves obtaining amniotic fluid and evaluating the fluid for the surfactant to albumin [SA] ratio. The amniotic fluid is obtained via amniocentesis, an invasive procedure with risks including infection and preterm labor,” said Dr. Yong.

Researchers discovered that choline values greater than 49 mg/g indicate lung maturity on MRS. "We are pleased to see a trend between increasing SA ratio with increasing choline concentration in amniotic fluid. We are doing work with more samples to determine if this trend reaches statistical significance,” said Dr. Yong. "If this work is successful, we could potentially use MRS as a non-invasive test for fetal lung maturity and spare pregnant women and their fetuses the risks of amniocentesis.”

The study's findings were presented on May 10, 2007, during the American Roentgen Ray Society annual meeting in Orlando, FL, USA.


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