The role of evaluation of fetal lung by gray scale & Doppler Us in prediction of fetal lung maturity

Authors

• Rana Elshennawy Nasr Ammar, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.Follow
• Diaa Monir Ajlan, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
• Mohammad Abdellatif Nassar, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Neonatologists, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University,Tanta ,Egypt
• Shereef Lofty Elshwaikh, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

Abstract

Background Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) is a major cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality, especially in preterm infants. Traditional assessments of fetal lung maturity often require amniocentesis, an invasive procedure with significant risks. Noninvasive ultrasound-based methods could help optimize the timing of preterm delivery. Aim To determine whether the gray-scale echogenicity of the fetal lung and Doppler indices of the fetal main pulmonary artery (MPA) can predict fetal lung maturity and the risk of neonatal RDS in late preterm pregnancies. Patients & Methods A prospective cohort study was performed in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Tanta University Hospitals (Egypt) from May 2024 to May 2025. The study included 100 pregnant women with singleton gestations between 32+0 and 35+6 weeks who were scheduled for delivery within 48–72 hours of admission. All participants underwent ultrasound assessment of fetal lung gray-scale echogenicity (lung-to-liver and thalamic brightness) and fetal MPA Doppler measurements. Neonatal outcomes were recorded after delivery. Results Neonates without RDS exhibited higher lung-to-liver echogenicity and more frequently had echogenic fetal thalami on scan. Doppler indices of the fetal MPA were markedly different between groups: the RDS group showed higher resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) values, and lower acceleration time/ejection time (AT/ ET) ratios (all p < 0.001). Conclusions The combined assessment of fetal lung gray-scale echogenicity and MPA Doppler indices proved to be an accurate, non-invasive approach for predicting fetal lung maturity and the risk of neonatal RDS in late-preterm pregnancies.

Article Type

Original Study

Subject Area

Obstetrics and Gynecology

IRB Number

36264MS593/5/24

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Ammar, Rana Elshennawy Nasr; Ajlan, Diaa Monir; Nassar, Mohammad Abdellatif; and Elshwaikh, Shereef Lofty (2026) "The role of evaluation of fetal lung by gray scale & Doppler Us in prediction of fetal lung maturity," Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research: Vol. 9: Iss. 4, Article 15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59299/2537-0928.1538