title: Significance of the sinusoidal fetal heart rate pattern.
abstract: The sinusoidal fetal heart rate pattern has been reported to be an indication of fetal compromise. In this review of 31 cases, drawn from a total of 559 monitored cases of normal and at-risk women, only one resulted in poor outcome, and this was attributable to a difficult breech delivery. An association with administration of analgesics is confirmed. The sinusoidal fetal heart rate pattern does not appear to be uniformly associated with fetal distress. Its presence should be an indication for meticulous assessment of other electrocardiographic, biochemical, or clinical evidence of fetal status.
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000494:pharmacology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005316:Fetal Distress / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics