RESUMEN
We considered it useful to attempt to diagnose fetal distress or fetal heart failure in hydropic fetuses using external electrodes with a feto-maternal electrocardiographic machine. The pathological tracings that we obtained have been compared with tracings from a normal pregnancy. The authors have not been able to find that there is a significant difference between the electric axes of normal fetuses and pathological fetuses. In fact in both groups we have found as many normal axes with right deviation as with left deviation. In any case we have found that low voltage ventriculograms with a triangular shape have been more common in hydropic fetuses than in the control group. We do not think that this method will be of any use in diagnosing chronic fetal distress of heart failure. All the same we think that we should devote our attention particularly to those patients that have low voltage ventriculograms of triangular shape. We would like to thank Dr Mario Villamichel for his advice and commentary on the manuscript as well as Dr Luis Senties, the Chef de Service of the Department of Isoimmunisation.