Washington, DC – April 5, 2010 The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) announces a webinar on The Future of Fetal Lung Maturity to be held Wednesday, May 05, 2010 at 2:00pm (Eastern). The webinar will last 90 minutes.
Premature babies are known to be particularly susceptible to RDS, or respiratory distress syndrome, which is a major factor in morbidity and mortality in the neonatal population. Neonates with “mature” lung function are much more likely to thrive and remain free of RDS than babies with “immature” function. Fetal lung maturity (FLM) tests play a large role in helping obstetricians evaluate fetal lung status and the results allow clinicians to make an informed decision whether to accelerate birth, continue observing the pregnancy, or actively delay birth. Now, however, it is not clear if the manufacturer of the most popular FLM assay will continue to support the product after beyond 2010. How will laboratories deal with the new realities of FLM testing?
This timely webinar addresses the pathophysiology and treatment of RDS, the various FLM test platforms and their clinical utility, contemporary issues and trends in FLM , and best practices in validating lab-developed FLM assays. The experts for this webinar are:
David G. Grenache, PhD, MT(ASCP), DABCC, FACB -- Assistant Professor of Pathology, University of Utah Health Sciences Center & Medical Director, Special Chemistry Laboratory, ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT, and
Ann M. Gronowski PhD, DABCC -- Associate Professor, Departments of Pathology & Immunology and Obstetrics & Gynecology ,Washington University School of Medicine; and Associate Medical Director, Clinical Chemistry/Serology/Immunology Laboratories, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis MO.
The webinar will be moderated by Corinne R. Fantz, PhD, DABCC -- Assistant Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine; Co-Director, Core Laboratory, Emory Crawford Long Hospital; Director of Point of Care, Emory Medical Laboratories, Atlanta, GA.
AACC is pleased to offer complimentary press registrations to interested journalists. To register, complete and submit a Press Registration Form. For more information about the webinar or AACC, follow the links in paragraph 1 or contact Peter Patterson on either of the above phone numbers or at ppatterson@aacc.org.