Article Text
Abstract
Background Therapeutic hypothermia improves outcomes for asphyxiated infants, however not all infants born with severe acidosis are assessed as eligible for cooling and few data describe short-term clinical outcomes for the whole cohort of babies with severe perinatal acidosis.
Aim and Methods We conducted a prospective study over a 17-month period (June 2011-November 2012) to determine short-term clinical outcomes in the whole cohort of infants born at >35 weeks gestation who had an arterial cord or first hour pH of ≤7.10.
Results 69 infants were admitted with severe acidosis. CTG abnormalities were present in 71% of cases. Overall, 31/69 (35%) infants showed signs of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) and 12/69 (17%) were cooled. Of non-cooled infants, 8/57 (14%) developed moderate-severe HIE (Table 1).
Conclusion Short term morbidities are common in the whole cohort of infants born with severe perinatal acidosis, including in infants initially evaluated as not meeting current criteria for cooling.