Objectives: Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), which occurs before 37 weeks of gestation, is a significant pregnancy complication. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the amniotic fluid index (AFI) and neonatal respiratory distress in (PPROM) cases.
Patients and Methods: We studied 100 females, aged 19-45, with singleton pregnancies between 24 and 37 weeks, confirmed PPROM via amniotic fluid, and presented within 24 hours before labor began. All patients underwent abdominal ultrasounds.
Results: AFI was negatively correlated with total leukocytic count (r=-0.248, P=0.013), neonatal mortality (r=-0.258, P=0.01), occurrence of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (r=- 0.309, P=0.002), occurrence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (r=-0.202, P=0.044) and five minutes of APGAR (appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration) scores (r=-0.254, P=0.011). AFI had significantly diagnostic accuracy for predicting outcome of pregnancy in patient group at cut off 4.1 for identifying unfavourable results in the patient group with a 51.5% specificity and a 77.6% sensitivity. Compared to AFI≥5, the following outcomes were substantially higher: infant death, birth weight < 2.000 g, neonatal sepsis, hospitalisation to the neonatal intensive care unit for more than two weeks, RDS, 5-minute APGAR score<7, and NEC.
Conclusions: Adverse newborn outcomes are a result of low residual amniotic fluid levels in individuals with postpartum haemorrhage. AFI<5 cm was linked to poor newborn outcomes overall and respiratory distress specifically, according to our findings.