A recent Finnish study explored HIE and its preventability with CTG use. Findings suggest that timely interventions may have avoided HIE for one in five women with an affected. However, this study does not establish CTG superiority over intermittent auscultation for monitoring fetal health.
A recent review examined the relationship between abnormal heart rate patterns in CTG monitoring and various neonatal outcomes. While some links were identified, particularly with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, overall connections were weak. The evidence suggests CTG monitoring may not be as clinically useful as presumed, prompting calls for alternative monitoring methods.
Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (or HIE) is a condition affecting newborn infants. As the name suggests, it relates to low oxygen supply (hypoxia), and / or reduced blood flow (ischaemia) causing damage (-pathy) to the brain (encephalo-). Other parts of the body might also show signs of damage from low oxygen, like the kidneys or the gut. It is diagnosed when there is a combination of high acid levels in umbilical […]
Can #CTG changes predict the degree of severity of brain injury seen on #MRI? Yes. And is this information useful in practice? Not yet…. #HIE
New evidence about the relationship between decelerations, accelerations, and hypoxic brain injury.
Measuring outcomes in fetal monitoring research: there’s more to it than at first glance.
We don’t actually know which fetal heart rate patterns predict developing brain injury. Why?
Birth Small Talk 