Online detection of fetal acidemia during labour by testing synchronization of EEG and heart rate: a prospective study in fetal sheep.

Xiaogang Wang
L Daniel Durosier
Michael G Ross
Bryan S Richardson
Martin G Frasch

Open link

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0108119

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Journal

issn:1932-6203

Abstract

Severe fetal acidemia during labour can result in life-lasting neurological deficits, but the timely detection of this condition is often not possible. This is because the positive predictive value (PPV) of fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring, the mainstay of fetal health surveillance during labour, to detect concerning fetal acidemia is around 50%. In fetal sheep model of human labour, we reported that severe fetal acidemia (pH<7.00) during repetitive umbilical cord occlusions (UCOs) is preceded ∼60 minutes by the synchronization of electroencephalogram (EEG) and FHR. However, EEG and FHR are cyclic and noisy, and although the synchronization might be visually evident, it is challenging to detect automatically, a necessary condition for beds...