H. H. Fiori, I. Varela, A. L. Justo, R. M. Fiori
Stable microbubble test and click test to predict respiratory distress syndrome in preterm infants not requiring ventilation at birth
Aims: To determine the usefulness of the stable microbubble
test (SMT) and of the click test (CT) on gastric
aspirates obtained soon after birth to predict respiratory
distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm babies not
requiring ventilation at birth.
Patients and methods: The study was carried out with a
cohort between 24 and 34 weeks of gestational age. Gastric
secretions were collected before 1 hour of life and
frozen for further analysis.
Results: 110 neonates were studied. For a cut-off value
? 10 microbubbles/mm2 (mb/mm2) the sensitivity and
specificity to predict RDS were 73.9% and 92%, respectively,
in the SMT. The best SMT cut-off point to predict
RDS was ? 15 mb/mm2 (sensitivity = 82.6%;specificity =
85.1%) if equal weight was given to false-positive and
false-negative results. CT (104 samples) showed a sensitivity
of 100% and a specificity of 45.1% to predict RDS.
The overall accuracy of the SMT was better than the
overall accuracy of the CT (87.5% vs. 64.4%; p < 0.001)
to predict RDS.
Conclusions: The SMT is more accurate than the CT to
predict RDS in infants below 35 weeks of gestational age
and may be helpful to select patients to receive surfactant.
Journal of Perinatal Medicine, Walter de Gruyter
Print ISSN: 1619-3997
Volume: 31, 11/2003
Pages: 509 - 514
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