The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of amniotic fluid lamellar body count (LBC) on the timing of elective caesarean delivery (CS) at ≥ 39 weeks. After allocating the study group (group I, transient tachypnoea of newborn (TTN), n = 14), an age-matched control group (group II, no TTN, n = 79) was selected for amniotic fluid LBC analysis. The median amniotic fluid LBC levels in group I were significantly lower than in the control group. Furthermore, the median values of mean lamellar body volume, median lamellar body distribution width and lamellar bodycrit in group I were also significantly lower than in group II. The best amniotic fluid LBC value to predict TTN was 40.15 × 10(3)/μl, with 82.3% sensitivity and 64.3% specificity. The favourable sensitivity and specificity values to predict the TTN for amniotic fluid LBC may suggest using it as an elective caesarean delivery-time scheduling marker.
Keywords: Amniotic fluid; elective caesarean delivery; lamellar body; transient tachypnoea of newborn.