Does maternal oxygen administration during non-reassuring fetal status affect the umbilical artery gas measures and neonatal outcomes?

PURPOSE: To clarify whether maternal oxygen administration during vaginal delivery improves umbilical artery (UA) gas measurements and neonatal outcomes. METHODS: Singleton pregnancies requiring operative vaginal delivery or emergency cesarean section (CS) due to non-reassuring fetal status (NRFS) during vaginal delivery at our hospital from 2018 to 2021 were retrospectively investigated. Intrapartum fetal wellbeing was evaluated based on the 5-tier fetal heart rate (FHR) pattern which is a delivery management method widely used in Japan. Operative vaginal deliveries or emergency CS was performed under integrated judgment in NRFS. Patients were divided into the oxygen group to whom oxygen (10 L/min) was supplied by a facemask and the room air group. The UA gas measurements and neonatal outcomes were compared. The oxygen administration was classified by conditions before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. As a secondary evaluation, stratification of FHR pattern levels and factors associated with UA pH < 7.15 were examined. RESULTS: A total of 250 patients required obstetric surgical delivery due to NRFS, including 140 (56%) and 110 (44%) in the oxygen and room air groups, respectively. No differences in maternal background factors were found between both groups, except for maternal age. UA gas measurements and neonatal outcomes also showed no significant differences. No significant factors were extracted in the multivariate analysis for UA pH < 7.15. CONCLUSIONS: Trans-maternal oxygen administration for intrapartum NRFS did not affect neonatal cord blood gasses or neonatal outcomes. Thus, routine oxygen administration for intrapartum NRFS may not always be necessary.

Placental polyp with arteriovenous malformation treated with a gonadotoropin-releasing hormone antagonist.

A 35-year-old woman (gravida 1, para 0) underwent termination of pregnancy (ToP) at 12 weeks of gestation. One month after ToP, she experienced significant vaginal bleeding and the mass with blood flow was identified on imaging. The presence of a placental polyp with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) was suspected on transvaginal sonography and MRI. Since the bleeding had ceased when she visited our hospital, we decided to treat the placental polyp with AVM with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist therapy instead of surgery. Two months after GnRH antagonist treatment, the mass and blood flow in the uterus disappeared. Menstruation resumed 1 month after the completion of treatment. In our case, we were able to successfully treat placental polyps with AVM using GnRH antagonist therapy.