title: More perinatal deaths associated with poor long-term variability during antenatal fetal heart-rate monitoring.
abstract: Positive stress and non-stress tests of 243 infants were examined for accelerations and the duration of poor long-term variability during fetal heart rate monitoring. Accelerations were present in 47% when the variability was good. No accelerations were seen when poor variability lasted for more than 75% of the monitoring time; this was also associated with lower birth-weights, shorter gestational duration and lower 5-minute Apgar scores. These measurements improved as the period of poor variability decreased. Intra-uterine death occurred in 1.9% of infants when the variability was good, in 3.6% when the variability lasted for less than 75% of the recording time and in 19.6% when the poor variability lasted longer than 75% of the recording time. Neonatal deaths occurred in 7.5%, 11.5% and 21.7% of these three groups, respectively. Poor long-term variability was also associated with growth-retardation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Stellenbosch and Tygerberg Hospital, Parowvallei.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Odendaal
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000453:epidemiology; D005323:Fetal Monitoring; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013997:Time Factors