Evaluation of hematological profile of cord blood and placental histopathology in neonates with perinatal asphyxia

Perinatal asphyxia (derived from Greek word a-sphyxos meaning born without an evident pulse) is one of the most important causes of fetal distress [1].Perinatal asphyxia remains a significant cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality the world over, and is known to complicate upto 5 – 10% of all deliveries[2]. A wide variety of maternal, fetal and labor conditions give rise to perinatal asphyxia. Diagnosing perinatal asphyxia is important because of the potentially avoidable nature of the lesions, but due to the complex pathophysiological mechanisms involved in causing perinatal asphyxia,an early diagnosis becomes difficult. A wide variety of clinical parameters and laboratory tests are employed to diagnose perinatal asphyxia, like Apgar’s score, umbilical arterial acidemia/base excess, intrapartum electronic fetal monitoring, fetal scalp pH measurement and presence of meconium in amniotic fluid. However, to date no single marker of perinatal asphyxia has shown good predictive efficacy and only a combination of various indices can help in an early diagnosis of perinatal asphyxia. Recently nucleated red blood cells (nRBC’s) have been reported as a marker of perinatal asphyxia [3]. Many acute and chronic diseases cause increase in the number of circulating nRBC’s,such as premature delivery, maternal diabetes mellitus, anemia in pregnancy [4],pregnancy induced hypertension. Fetal causes can be growth retardation(SGA),congenital heart diseases and premature delivery [5]