The most important features indicating appropriate fetal development are the measures of instantaneous variability of a fetal heart rate (FHR), describing fluctuations of the beat-to-beat heart intervals. The most popular method for the FHR acquisition is the Doppler ultrasound technique. However, it is very sensitive to various motion artifacts distorting the signal being acquired. The aim of ...

The 'flat' fetal heart rate (FHR) trace both before and during labour is viewed ominously by many obstetricians and midwives. The current medicolegal climate relating especially to care in labour is such that much emphasis is placed on an unreactive FHR. There is a tendency to link an unreactive FHR with an adverse outcome. However, it is only in a minority of cases that this is true. Furthermo...

To test the hypothesis that an increasing opioid tonus is involved in decreases in fetal heart rate (FHR) and movement (FM) during late gestation, we studied the effects of intravenous bolus injections of morphine (1 mg) and naloxone (1 mg) on FHR and FM in the fetal pig. Twenty-one fetuses (1 per sow) were catheterized at 90-104 days of gestation (median 100 days). Recordings of FHR (electroca...

Ontogenic changes in baseline and 24-h rhythms of fetal arterial blood pressure (FABP) and heart rate (FHR) and their regulation by the fetal adrenal were studied in 18 fetal sheep chronically instrumented at 109-114 days gestation (GA). In the long-term study, FABP and FHR were continuously recorded from 120 days GA to spontaneous term labor (>145 days GA) in five animals. Peak times (PT) and ...

BACKGROUND Severe fetal acidemia during labour with arterial pH below 7.00 is associated with increased risk of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Electronic fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring, the mainstay of intrapartum surveillance, has poor specificity for detecting fetal acidemia. We studied brain electrical activity measured with electrocorticogram (ECOG) in the near term ovine fetus subjected...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of our work was to define the complex electrophysiological characteristics seen in second- (2 degrees) and third-degree (3 degrees) atrioventricular block (AVB) and to longitudinally follow the development of atrial and ventricular heart rate and rhythm patterns with a goal of identifying heart rate and rhythm patterns associated with urgent delivery or neonatal pacing. ...

Antepartum fetal monitoring based on the classical cardiotocography (CTG) is a noninvasive and low-price tool for checking fetal status. Its introduction in the clinical routine limited the occurrence of fetal problems leading to a reduction of the precocious child mortality. Nevertheless very poor indications on fetal pathologies can be inferred from the actual CTG analysis methods, either the...

conclusions overall, incidence of birth trauma in kashan city was lower in comparison with most studies. considering existing risk factors, further monitoring on labor, and delivery management in teaching hospitals are recommended to prevent birth injuries. in addition, careful supervision on students and residents' training should be applied in teaching hospitals. patients and methods in this ...

AIMS To determine the predictive value of fetal pulse oximetry (FPO) for the development of fetal acidosis in cases of non-reassuring fetal heart rate (FHR). METHODS In a prospective observational study, pulse oximetry monitoring was examined in cases of non-reassuring FHR during singleton cephalic delivery at 36-42 weeks' gestation. The study examined whether fetal arterial oxygen saturation...

AIMS To evaluate fetal disorders using detailed quantitative values from the actocardiogram (ACG) involving simultaneous tracing of ultrasonic Doppler fetal movement bursts and fetal heart rate (FHR). METHODS Duration of FHR accelerations and fetal movement bursts were measured manually in 20 common fetal disorders. The severity of the fetal disorder was estimated using the FHR acceleration d...