Perinatal asphyxia

"Neonatal asphyxia" redirects here.

Perinatal asphyxia or neonatal asphyxia is the medical condition resulting from deprivation of oxygen to a newborn infant that lasts long enough during the birth process to cause physical harm, usually to the brain. Hypoxic damage can occur to most of the infant's organs (heart, lungs, liver, gut, kidneys), but brain damage is of most concern and perhaps the least likely to quickly or completely heal. In the more pronounced cases, an infant will survive, but with damage to the brain manifested as either mental, such as developmental delay or intellectual disability, or physical, such as spasticity — in fact, spastic diplegia and the other forms of cerebral palsy almost always feature asphyxiation during the birth process as a major, if not defining, factor.

It results most commonly from a drop in maternal blood pressure or some other substantial interference with blood flow to the infant's brain during delivery. This can occur due to inadequate circulation or perfusion, impaired respiratory effort, or inadequate ventilation. Perinatal asphyxia happens in 2 to 10 per 1000 newborns that are born at term, and more for those that are born prematurely. ^[1]

An infant suffering severe perinatal asphyxia usually has poor color (cyanosis), perfusion, responsiveness, muscle tone, and respiratory effort, as reflected in a low 5 minute Apgar score. Extreme degrees of asphyxia can cause cardiac arrest and death. If resuscitation is successful, the infant is usually transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit.

1987 saw the first book with these words in the title, by Alberto Lacoius-Petruccelli, Perinatal Asphyxia, edited by Plenum, that was recently revised in 2006 by Vantage Press.

References

External links

• Asphyxia neonatorum, School of Child and Adolescent Health, University of Cape Town