This study, written by Ulloa-Ricárdez et al., aims to determine the relationship between newborn babies with perinatal asphyxia and blood lactate and pH levels of umbilical cord gasometry in patients at Hospital Juárez de México.

Perinatal Asphyxia is a syndrome which is characterized by the suspension or severe decrease of gas exchange at the placenta or the lungs and which affects the foetus or newborn. Perinatal Asphyxia results in hypoxemia, hypercapnia and tissue hypoxia with metabolic acidosis.

Fetal hypoxia is an aggression to the fetus or newborn (neonate) due to lack of oxygen generally or in various organs. Fetal hypoxia occurs due to causes that affect the mother, the placenta and/or the umbilical cord, or the fetus itself. Perinatal Asphyxia can occur before birth, during labour or in the neonatal period. The vast majority of the causes of perinatal hypoxia are of intrauterine origin. It affects all organs and systems in varying degrees according to their intensity and duration.

Ulloa-Ricárdez et al. carried out a descriptive, cross-sectional and analytical study in newborn infants admitted to the Neonatal Service with diagnosis of Perinatal Asphyxia in a 2-year period (2008 and 2009). During the study, 63 newborns were diagnosed as having Perinatal Asphyxia.

The pH and lactate had a correlation of 0.56 in patients with Perinatal Asphyxia in Hospital Juárez de México. Lactate levels > 10 and pH <7.0 had a higher frequency of clinical manifestations such as encephalopathy, respiratory distress and renal damage

The lactate measurement is performed directly, unlike the pH measurement that is measured indirectly by the hydrogenation concentration, so the measurement of the lactate measurements could be better associated with the hypoxic-ischemic event.

This study was carried out in a Mexican hospital by Alfredo Ulloa-Ricárdez, Esther Meneses-Roldán and Alberto Del Castillo-Medina. This article, whose original title was ” Niveles de pH y Lactato en Sangre de Cordón Umbilical en Recién Nacidos con Asfixia Perinatal”, was published by the journal Revista del Hospital Juárez de México (Rev Hosp Jua Mex 2016; 83(3): 80-85)

Please click here to download the original article, written in Spanish: