الفهرس 
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Abstract
Fetal lung maturity (FLM) testing has played an important role in predicting the risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2008).
However, respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) remains a major newborn complication, especially in hospitals where high-risk obstetric services are limited (Lu et al.,2008).
To assess the fetal lung maturity (FLM), several methods can be used to determine the relative concentration of surfactant-active phospholipids in the amniotic fluid. The current “gold standard” for the determination of FLM is the evaluation of phospholipids in amniotic fluid samples by thin-layer chromatography. These tests are, however, time-consuming and not continuously available at most institutions. A rapid test that does not require any reagents is the determination of the number of lamellar bodies in amniotic fluid. Lamellar bodies are lamellated phospholipids that represent a storage form of surfactant (Weaveret al.,2002). A consensus Lamellar body count (LBC) protocol is published, and a LBC cutoff value of 50,000/μL suggests lung maturity regarding the hematology analyzer used (Haymond al., 2006).
Gray-level histogram width (GLHW) is an ultrasonic tissue characterization which is used for quantification of sonographic echogenicity where (GLH) is measurable (Maeda et al., 2008).
The gray-level histogram (GLH) has been used to assess the echogenicity of the texture of various organs, showing that the method has major clinical applications. Studying the tissue from a given organ shows that it has an apparent density in a B mode image determined by the distribution of echogenic reflectors within the organ and the amplitude of the echo returning the parenchyma. These are altered by disease states, providing examiners with a subjective analysis of the area studied (Armstrong et al., 2003).