title: Intra-uterine fetal brain death: report of two cases and review of the literature.
abstract: The fetal heart rate (FHR) variability is used as a parameter in evaluating fetal well-being. Persistent decreased or absent variability is considered a bad prognostic sign and usually prompts an emergency cesarean section. We present two cases of severely decreased FHR variability and emergency cesarean section in which the neonates were pronounced brain dead shortly after delivery. We believe that if intra-uterine brain death could be diagnosed on the basis of suspiciously persistent low or absent FHR variability, surgical procedures that endanger the health of the mother could be prevented. The possibility of intra-uterine brain death should be considered in all the cases of persistently low or absent FHR variability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Beilinson Campus, 49100, Petah Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: Yariv
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yogev
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben-Haroush
authors.forename: Rony
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001926:Brain Death / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002585:Cesarean Section; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis