COMPARISION OF REFLECTION PULSE OXIMETRY AND CARDIOTOCOGRAPHY FOR INTRAPARTAL SURVEILLANCE IN PRESENCE OF FETAL ARRHYTHMIA AND CARDIAC MALFORMATION - A CASE-REPORT

Comparision of Reflection Pulse Oximetry and Cardiotocography for Intr apartal Surveillance in Presence of Fetal Arrhythmia and Cardiac Malfo rmation - A Case Report: Cardiotocography is currently the standard me thod for intrapartal surveillance. However, applicability of this meth od is limited in presence of fetal arrhythmia. Therefore, in fetuses w ith arrhythmia, several fetal blood analyses or primary Caesarean sect ion have to be performed. This report presents the intrapartal surveil lance of a fetus with ventricular arrhythmia and a cardiac malformatio n which is suspected to be an Uhl's anomaly. The intrapartal surveilla nce was performed by cardiotocography and reflection pulse oximetry. T he fetal heart rate trace was interpretable only 11% of surveillance t ime. The pulse oximeter provided 51% of the time valid signals with a stable oxygen saturation level. Due to prolonged second stage of labou r a forceps extraction was performed.