title: Fetal electrocardiography: feasibility of long-term fetal heart rate recordings.
abstract: The feasibility and accuracy of long-term transabdominal fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) recordings throughout pregnancy were studied using a portable fECG monitor. Fifteen-hour recordings of fetal heart rate (FHR) were performed in 150 pregnant women at 20-40 weeks of gestation and 1-hour recordings were performed in 22 women in labour and compared with simultaneous scalp electrode recordings. When >or=60% of fECG signals was present, the recording was defined as good. Eighty-two percent (123/150) of antenatal recordings were of good quality. This percentage increased to 90.7 (136/150 recordings) when only the night part (11 p.m.-7 a.m.) was considered. Transabdominal measurement of FHR and its variability correlated well with scalp electrode recordings (r=0.99, P<0.01; r=0.79, P<0.01, respectively). We demonstrated the feasibility and accuracy of long-term transabdominal fECG monitoring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology and Gynaecology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. e.m.graatsma@umcutrecht.nl
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Graatsma
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Jacod
authors.forename: L A J
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: van Egmond
authors.forename: E J H
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.forename: G H A
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Visser
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005323:Fetal Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006340:Heart Rate, Fetal / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D011247:Pregnancy; D012535:Scalp; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric