PEDIATRICS Vol. 62 No. 1 July 1978, pp. 38-41
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Olowe, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Akinkugbe, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Olowe, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Akinkugbe, A.

Amniotic Fluid Lecithin/Sphingomyelin Ratio: Comparison Between an African and a North American Community

Samuel A. Olowe F.M.C.Paed.(Nig)1 and Ajibayo Akinkugbe M.D., M.R.C.O.G.1

1 College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (Nigeria)

One hundred nineteen samples of amniotic fluid obtained from healthy pregnant Nigerian women were analyzed for their lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio. There was a gradual increase in the L/S ratio with increasing maturity from week 23 to week 42 when values of 0.69 and 5.73, respectively, were obtained. Compared with the ratios reported from San Diego, our ratios were significantly higher where numbers were adequate for statistical tests. The higher L/S ratio probably shows that pulmonary maturity occurs earlier in the African babies and might partly explain the low incidence of respiratory distress syndrome in our premature babies.

Submitted on September 21, 1977
Accepted on December 13, 1977




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed.Home page
V. Kavvadia, A. Greenough, G. Dimitriou, and R. Hooper
Influence of ethnic origin on respiratory distress syndrome in very premature infants
Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed., January 1, 1998; 78(1): 25F - 28.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 NEJMHome page
A. Hamvas, P. H. Wise, R. K. Yang, N. S. Wampler, A. Noguchi, M. M. Maurer, C. A. Walentik, W. F. Schramm, and F. S. Cole
The Influence of the Wider Use of Surfactant Therapy on Neonatal Mortality among Blacks and Whites
N. Engl. J. Med., June 20, 1996; 334(25): 1635 - 1641.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]