Safely lowering the emergency Cesarean and operative vaginal delivery rates using the Fetal Reserve Index.

Objective: The cardiotocograph (CTG) or electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) was developed to prevent fetal asphyxia and subsequent neurological injury. From a public health perspective, it has failed these objectives while increasing emergency operative deliveries (emergency operative deliveries (EODs) - emergency cesarean delivery or operative vaginal delivery) for newborns, who in retrospect, actually did not require the assistance. EODs increase the risks of complications and stress for patients, families, and medical personnel. A safe reduction in the need for EOD will likely reduce both the overall Cesarean section rate as well as the risk of fetal neurological injury during labor to which it is related. We have developed the fetal reserve index (FRI), which is more comprehensive than CTG as a new screening method for early identification of the fetus at-risk of both neurological harm and the need to "rescue" by means of an EOD. Here, we compare prospectively the need for EOD in two groups of parturients undergoing a trial of labor at term. One group was managed conventionally, the other by the principles of the FRI.Study design: We compared the need for EOD of 800 parturients with singleton cases undergoing a trial of labor at term entering with normal CTG patterns (ACOG category 1). Patients were either treated routinely (400 - "early cases") or in a second group seen later actively managed using the principles of the FRI (400 - "late cases"). The FRI includes measurements of five components of the CTG: rate, variability, decelerations, accelerations, and abnormal uterine activity combined with the presence of medical, obstetrical, and fetal risk factors. The 8-point metric categorizes cases as "green", "yellow", and "red" with the latter being at risk.Results: All 800 patients delivered babies, who were discharged in the usual time course with no untoward outcomes noted. The incidence of red zone scores was comparable in the two groups (≈25%), but the use of intrauterine resuscitation (IR) when reaching the red zone in the late group (47%) was more than double the incidence in the early group (20%) (p < .001). Despite (or because of) this, EODs were significantly reduced in the late group, from 17.3 to 4.0% (p < .001). Further, the late group spent less time in the red zone without increasing overall time in labor. Overall, EOD cases averaged >1 h in the red zone versus 0.5 h for non-EODs.Conclusions: The FRI may provide a metric to reduce EODs and by extension also reduce the risks of both cesarean delivery and adverse fetal/neonatal outcomes. The safe avoidance of EOD would seem to be an important metric to assess the quality of intrapartum management. This study represents the first attempt to apply the principles of the FRI "live" for the concurrent management of patients during labor. These promising results, if confirmed, in larger sample sizes, set the stage for our computerization of the FRI for widespread study. Benefits appear to come from identification and early, conservative management of fetal deterioration before the need to "rescue" the fetus by EOD.

Inter-observer reliability of 4 fetal heart rate classifications.

OBJECTIVE: Different classification of fetal heart rate (FHR) pattern have been proposed: FHR classified as either "reassuring" or "non-reassuring", the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) published in 2008 a 3-tier system, the French College of Gynecology and Obstetrics (CNGOF) recommended in 2013 a 5-tier system and recently in 2015, the Federation International of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) proposed a new classification based on a 3-tier system. Our objective was to assess the inter-observer reliability of these 4 existing classifications. STUDY DESIGN: Four observers reviewed 100 FHR without clinical information. FHR were obtained from term singleton pregnancies. Fetal heart rate patterns were classified by one 2-tier ("reassuring vs. non-reassuring"), two 3-tier (NICHD 2008 and FIGO 2015), and one 5-tier (CNGOF 2013) fetal heart classifications. RESULTS: The global agreement between observers was moderate for each classification: 0.58 (0.40-0.74) for the 2-tier, 0.48 (0.37-0.58) for the NICHD 2008, 0.58 (0.53-0.63) for the CNGOF 2013 and 0.59 (0.49-0.67) for the FIGO 2015 classification. When FHR was classified as reassuring, it was classified as normal in 85.5% for the NICHD 2008 and in 94.5% for the FIGO 2015. For the CNGOF 2013, 65.0% were classified as normal and 32.5% as quasi normal. There was strong concordance between FIGO category I and "reassuring" FHR (kappa=0.95). CONCLUSION: Inter-observer agreement of FHR interpretation is moderate whatever the classification used. To evaluate the superior interest of one classification, it will be interesting to compare their impact on need of second line techniques and on neonatal outcome.

[The contribution of the clinical examination, electroencephalogram, and brain MRI in assessing the prognosis in term newborns with neonatal encephalopathy. A cohort of 30 newborns before the introduction of treatment with hypothermia]. / Évaluation du pronostic de l'encéphalopathie précoce du nouveau-né à terme avant l'avènement de l'hypothermie.

OBJECTIVES: Perinatal asphyxia complicated by hypoxic ischemic brain injury remains a source of neurological lesions. A major aim of neonatologists is to evaluate the severity of neonatal encephalopathy (NE) and to evaluate prognosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of brain MRI compared to electroencephalogram (EEG) and clinical data in assessing patients' prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty newborns from the pediatric resuscitation unit at Rouen university hospital were enrolled in a retrospective study between January 2006 and December 2008, prior to introduction of hypothermia treatment. All 30 newborns had at least two anamnestic criteria of perinatal asphyxia, one brain MRI in the first 5 days of life and another after 7 days of life as well as an early EEG in the first 2 days of life. Then, the infants were seen in consultation to assess neurodevelopment. RESULTS: This study showed a relation between NE stage and prognosis. During stage 1, prognosis was good, whereas stage 3 was associated with poor neurodevelopment outcome. Normal clinical examination before the 8th day of life was a good prognostic factor in this study. There was a relationship between severity of EEG after the 5th day of life and poor outcome. During stage 2, EEG patterns varied in severity, and brain MRI provided a better prognosis. Lesions of the basal ganglia and a decreased or absent signal of the posterior limb of the internal capsule were poor prognostic factors during brain MRI. These lesions were underestimated during standard MRI in the first days of life but were visible with diffusion sequences. Cognitive impairment affected 40% of surviving children, justifying extended pediatric follow-up. CONCLUSION: This study confirms the usefulness of brain MRI as a diagnostic tool in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in association with clinical data and EEG tracings.

Prognostic decision support using symbolic dynamics in CTG monitoring.

Foetal heart rate variability is one of the most important parameters to monitor foetal wellbeing. Linear parameters, widely employed to study foetal heart variability, have shown some limitations in highlight dynamics potentially relevant. During the last decades, therefore, nonlinear analysis methods have gained a growing interest to analyze the chaotic nature of cardiac activity. Parameters derived by techniques investigating nonlinear can be included in computerised systems of cardiotocographic monitoring. In this work, we described an application of symbolic dynamics to analyze foetal heart rate variability in healthy foetuses and a concise index, introduced for its classification in antepartum CTG monitoring. The introduced index demonstrated to be capable to highlight differences in heart rate variability and resulted correlated with the Apgar score at birth, in particular, higher variability indexes values are associated to early greater vitality at birth. These preliminary results confirm that SD can be a helpful tool in CTG monitoring, supporting medical decisions in order to assure the maximum well-being of newborns.

The conundrum of vanishing early decelerations in British obstetrics, a step backwards? Detailed appraisal of British and American classifications of fetal heart rate decelerations - fallacies of emphasis on waveform and putative aetiology.

A recent opinion survey of British Obstetricians revealed 'early' fetal heart rate (FHR) decelerations as the commonest type in their practice. This contrasts with the guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, UK (NICE 2007) that 'true uniform early decelerations are rare and most decelerations are variable'. This analytical review suggests that the emphasis on putative aetiology and 'waveform' of decelerations by NICE and other national guidelines leads to fundamental inconsistencies. 'Uniform shape' is misinterpretation of the description by Hon and Quilligan (1968). Truly 'uniform' (identical)) decelerations do not occur and no examples can be found. Gradual ('bell') or rapid shape has no correlation to putative causation or fetal condition. Obstetricians and midwives should seek clarification of these fallacies. The previous British practice of classifying decelerations based solely on time relationship to contractions seems most scientifically robust leading to more consistent interpretation and better discrimination of fetal status.

Does the International Classification of Disease (ICD-9) code accurately identify neonates who clinically have hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy?

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) refers to neonatal neurological signs and symptoms of hypoxia and/or ischemia. Our aim was to determine the accuracy of ICD-9 codes to identify newborns with HIE confirmed by umbilical cord blood analysis. METHODS: ICD-9 codes in the newborn chart for birth trauma, birth asphyxia, intrauterine hypoxia, and fetal distress were used to identify newborns with suspected HIE by neonatal personnel. Maternal charts were reviewed for umbilical cord gases meeting the HIE clinical criteria. RESULTS: There were 21,008 deliveries at center I and 17,540 at center II. ICD-9 codes identified 172 neonates, 49 infants (2.3‰ births) at center I and 123 neonates (7‰) at center II. Only 3 neonates (6%) were ≥34 weeks and none met ACOG criteria [umbilical artery pH <7.00 or base excess (BE) ≥12 mmol/l at center I]. At center II, 80 infants were ≥34 weeks but only 5/123 (4%) met the ACOG clinical criteria for HIE (pH <7.00, BE ≥12 mmol/l, and Apgar ≤3 at 5 min). CONCLUSIONS: ICD-9 codes are unreliable in identifying birth asphyxia and cannot identify newborns meeting the clinical criteria for intrapartum HIE.

Correlación entre diagnostico clínico de sufrimiento fetal agudo y hallazgos ovulares y neonatales en cesarea de pacientes atendidas en el hospital Materno Infantil Doctor Fernando Velez Paiz, Managua julio a diciebre 2007 / Correlation between clinical diagnosis of fetal distress and acute findings in cesarea ovulares and neonatal patients treated in the hospital Mother and Child Doctor Fernando Velez Paiz

El presente trabajo titulado “CORRELACION ENTRE DIAGNOSTICO CLINICO DESUFRIMIENTO FETAL AGUDO Y HALLAZGOS TRANSOPERATORIOS EN CESAREA DE PACIENTES ATENDIDAS EN EL HOSPITAL MATERNO INFANTIL “DR.FERNANDO VELEZ PAIZ”, MANAGUA, JULIO A DICIEMBRE 2007”. es un estudio descriptivo de corte transversal con 103 pacientes con cesárea indicada por sufrimiento fetal agudo y tomada la muestra no probabilística por conveniencia. Nos planteamos como objetivos conocer la frecuencia de cesárea por sufrimiento fetal agudo, identificando los factores asociados a este diagnóstico, los criterios utilizados para realizar el diagnostico de sufrimiento fetal agudo, el manejo prequirúrgico de las pacientes, la correlacion entre el diagnostico pre y pos quirúrgico e identificar cual era lautilidad de los criterios clínicos utilizados. Los criterios de inclusión fueron: 1. Cesárea en esta Unidad Hospitalaria 2. Diagnóstico de sufrimiento fetal agudo 3. Ausencia de procesos patológicos congénitos incompatibles con la vida extrauterina(cardiopatías, malformaciones congénitas importantes) 4. Embarazo de término Encontrando los siguientes resultados: 1. La indicación y realización de cesárea por sufrimiento fetal agudo se dio en el 4,9 por ciento de casos de todos los nacidos en ese periodo de estudio y representó el 19 por ciento de todas las cesáreas realizadas. 2. Los factores asociados a sufrimiento fetal encontrados fueron las distociasfuniculares con un 43,6 por ciento, sin factor evidente con un 43,6 por ciento y el sufrimiento fetal crónico 7,7 por ciento, el síndrome hipertensivo gestacional 1,9 por ciento, amnioitis ehiperdinamia. 3. Los criterios diagnósticos utilizados fueron las alteraciones de la frecuenciacardiaca fetal, (principalmente la taquicardia fetal sostenida) y la presencia de líquido amniótico meconial (2-3 cruces). los serviciosde vigilancia del parto para discriminar mas adecuadamente los casos para decidir su cirugía...

ACOG Committee Opinion. Number 326, December 2005. Inappropriate use of the terms fetal distress and birth asphyxia.

The Committee on Obstetric Practice is concerned about the continued use of the term "fetal distress" as an antepartum or intrapartum diagnosis and the term "birth asphyxia" as a neonatal diagnosis. The Committee reaffirms that the term fetal distress is imprecise and nonspecific. The communication between clinicians caring for the woman and those caring for her neonate is best served by replacing the term fetal distress with "nonreassuring fetal status," followed by a further description of findings (eg, repetitive variable decelerations, fetal tachycardia or bradycardia, late decelerations, or low biophysical profile). Also, the term birth asphyxia is a nonspecific diagnosis and should not be used.

Editorial 317 Prog Obstet Ginecol 2002;45(8):317-8 En este número de P ROGRESOS DE O BSTETRICIA Y G INECOLOGÍA se publica el informe del Comité a d hoc constituido por miembros de la Sección de Medicina Perinatal de la Sociedad Española de Obstetricia y Ginecología ( SEGO) y de la Sociedad Española de Neonatología (SEN) / No disponible

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[Acute fetal distress]. / La souffrance foetale aiguë.

Three different clinical patterns of acute fetal distress may be observed during labor: an ante-partum hypoxia with a persistent nonreactive and "fixed" fetal heart rate (FHR) on admission to the hospital, a progressive intra-partum asphyxia manifested, as the labor continues, by a substantial rise in baseline heart rate, a loss of variability and repetitive severe variable or late decelerations, and finally, as a result of a catastrophic event, a sudden prolonged FHR deceleration to approximately 60 beats per minute lasting until delivery. However the majority of fetuses with nonreassuring tracings of FHR are neurologically intact, as evidenced by the high false-positive rate of electronic fetal monitoring (EFM). Therefore the diagnosis of fetal distress must be corroborated by complementary methods, such as continuous recording of the fetal electrocardiogram or computed-assisted EFM, fetal pulse oximetry or fetal scalp sampling with immediate determination of blood gases or lactates. Defavorable outcome of an acute fetal distress leading to neonatal encephalopathy or death is best predicted by a persisting low Apgar score (<3) for more than 5 minutes and by a severe metabolic acidosis (umbilical artery pH<7,00 and base-excess>-12mmol/l).

Assessment parameters and indicators in expert intrapartal nursing decisions.

OBJECTIVE: To determine what clinical parameters and indicators expert intrapartal nurses used to assess the severity of fetal stress. DESIGN: A descriptive, qualitative study using tape-recorded interviews from verbal protocols during clinical problem solving. SETTING: Labor and delivery units of two metropolitan hospitals in the northeastern United States. PARTICIPANTS: Eighteen nurses, designated as experts by nurse managers, with an average of 11.3 years of intrapartal experience. RESULTS: The clinical assessment parameters identified by content analysis included duration of stress, fetal reserve status, reversibility of stress, and specific signs of stress. The clinical assessment parameters included whether the disturbing pattern was brief or prolonged, continuous or intermittent, and how rapidly the mother's labor was progressing. Indicators of fetal reserve status were maternal pregnancy health status, gestational age of fetus, and biophysical indicators of fetal status. Reversibility of stress was assessed based on the precipitating factors involved and responsiveness of the fetus to resuscitation. Specific signs of stress included the characteristics of the fetal monitor strip changes, scalp sample results, and amniotic fluid color. CONCLUSIONS: Contextual features of clinical problems are key links in the decision-making processes of expert intrapartal nurses. Knowledge elicitation techniques can be used to identify these links.

Determinación de los niveles de gastrina en suero materno, neonatal y líquido amniótico en el sufrimiento fetal agudo / Gastrin levels determination in maternal, neonatal sera and amniotic fluid in acute fetal distress

Se compararon los niveles de gastrina (G) en el suero materno, neonatal y líquido amniótico en 15 pacientes que presentaron sufrimiento fetal agudo (SFA), teniendo como testigos a 10 pacientes con embarazo normal. Los niveles de G del Líquido amniótico de las pacientes con SFA fueron significativamente mayores (p<0.0001) que los del grupo testigo. Asimismo, se apreciaron diferencias entre ambos grupos en los coeficientes de G en suero materno/líquido amniótico (p < 0.01) y suero neonatal/líquido amniótico (p < 0.01). Se concluye que la G podría ser un auxiliar en el diagnóstico del SFA y el líquido amniótico el sustrato adecuado para su obtención mediante la utilización de la amniocentesis, requiriéndose estudios posteriores para ampliar el número de casos y poder precisar la sensibilidad y especifícidad de esta prueba.

Teste da estimulacao sonica: correlacao entre a resposta cardiaca fetal e o seu equilibrio acido-basico ao nascer / Sound stimulation test: correlation between fetal cardiac response and base-acid balance values at the birth

Os autores estudaram um grupo de 41 gestantes de alto risco com o objetivo de comparar os resultados do Teste de Estimulacao Sonica (TES) com os resultados da gasometria do sangue dos vasos do cordao umbilical imediatamente ao nascimento. O TES foi executado no mesmo dia do parto que ocorreu por operacao cesariana antes do inicio do trabalho de parto. Este teste foi classificado baseando-se nos componentes amplitude e duracao da resposta cardiaca fetal. Foram considerados fetos REATIVOS aqueles que exibiram resposta minima de 2,5 por cento e 5 por cento da populacao estudada; HIPORREATIVO aqueles que exibiram resposta inferior a esses niveis e NAO-REATIVOS aqueles que nao exibiram resposta. A correlacao dos tres grupos assim constituidos com os resultados gasometricos permitiu discerni-los em NORMAIS os fetos REATIVOS e ANORMAIS os fetos HIPORREATIVOS e NAO-REATIVOS.

Valoración biofísica de la salud fetal: cardiotocografía, perfil ecográfico

El monitoreo de la actividad cardíaca del feto en el embarazo y en el parto, son tratados aquí de modo completo. Tiene muchas páginas ilustradas con trazados didácticos. Para obstetras, tocoginecólogos y estudiantes

Valoración biofísica de la salud fetal: cardiotocografía, perfil ecográfico

El monitoreo de la actividad cardíaca del feto en el embarazo y en el parto, son tratados aquí de modo completo. Tiene muchas páginas ilustradas con trazados didácticos. Para obstetras, tocoginecólogos y estudiantes

The nonstress test. A preliminary report of a graded classification.

A series of 1,504 antenatal fetal heart rate studies (nonstress tests) in 525 high-risk patients was performed. Accelerations with fetal activity are important. A graded classification of heart rate reactivity was used. There were no antenatal fetal deaths with a reactive pattern. In addition, there was an increasing incidence of intrapartum fetal distress with decreasing fetal cardiac reactivity.