Neonatal complications at term as related to the degree of umbilical artery acidemia.

The degree of umbilical arterial acidemia associated with immediate newborn morbidity has not been determined. Therefore we compared 358 term infants with umbilical artery acidemia (pH less than 7.20) with 358 term, nonacidotic matched control infants, to evaluate immediate neonatal complications in both groups. Nonacidotic was defined as an umbilical artery pH greater than or equal to 7.20. Complications included seizures, persistent hypotonia, and/or signs of end-organ damage such as renal or cardiac dysfunction. None of the 693 newborns with an umbilical artery pH greater than or equal to 7.00 had such complications. Two of 23 infants with an umbilical artery pH less than 7.00 had sequelae related to intrapartum asphyxia. In these two infants the umbilical artery pH was less than 7.00, the 1-minute and 5-minute Apgar scores were less than or equal to 3 and the acidemia was metabolic in nature.

[1]  P. Hensleigh,et al.  Perinatal events and cerebral palsy , 1986 .

[2]  J. Low,et al.  Acid-base, lactate, and pyruvate characteristics of the normal obstetric patient and fetus during the intrapartum period. , 1974, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[3]  J. Hauth,et al.  Second‐Stage Fetal Heart Rate Abnormalities and Type of Neonatal Acidemia , 1987, Obstetrics and gynecology.

[4]  N. Finer,et al.  Factors affecting outcome in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in term infants. , 1983, American journal of diseases of children.

[5]  D. Muir,et al.  Intrapartum fetal hypoxia: a study of long-term morbidity. , 1983, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[6]  N. Paneth,et al.  Cerebral palsy and mental retardation in relation to indicators of perinatal asphyxia. An epidemiologic overview. , 1983, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[7]  F. Stanley,et al.  Intrapartum asphyxia: a rare cause of cerebral palsy. , 1988, The Journal of pediatrics.

[8]  F. Stanley,et al.  The cerebral palsies in Western Australia: trends, 1968 to 1981. , 1988, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[9]  V. Ruth,et al.  Perinatal brain damage: predictive value of metabolic acidosis and the Apgar score. , 1988, BMJ.

[10]  Jonas H. Ellenberg,et al.  Antecedents of cerebral palsy. Multivariate analysis of risk. , 1986 .

[11]  J E Sampson,et al.  Routine umbilical cord blood gas determinations? , 1989, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[12]  E Saling,et al.  pH values in the human fetus during labor. , 1967, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[13]  J. Hauth,et al.  Umbilical cord pH, PCO2, and bicarbonate following uncomplicated term vaginal deliveries. , 1985, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.

[14]  J M Freeman,et al.  Neonatal seizures. II. A multivariate analysis of factors associated with outcome. , 1982, Pediatrics.

[15]  The clinical use of umbilical cord acid-base determinations in perinatal surveillance and management. , 1982, Clinics in perinatology.

[16]  M. Williams,et al.  Diagnosis of birth asphyxia on the basis of fetal pH, Apgar score, and newborn cerebral dysfunction. , 1989, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology.