title: Meconium and fetal hypoxia: some experimental observations and clinical relevance.
abstract: In an experimental study, chemically sympathectomised near term fetal sheep and a control group were subjected to repeated episodes of acute hypoxia. Despite severe hypotension and metabolic acidosis, no animal in the control group had meconium-stained amniotic fluid, whereas every animal in the sympathectomised group had heavily meconium-stained amniotic fluid at the end of the experiments. These data and the available literature do not support a direct association between acute hypoxia and meconium-stained amniotic fluid but suggest that a reduction in sympathetic neural tone must be a component of meconium passage. Clinical and experimental data on the occurrence of meconium-stained amniotic fluid are reviewed.
authors.forename: Jenny A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Westgate
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bennet
authors.forename: Alistair J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Gunn
mesh_terms: D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D005311:Fetal Hypoxia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal / Q000502:physiology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008470:Meconium; D012756:Sheep; D013563:Sympathectomy, Chemical / Q000379:methods