[A cytochemical study of the blood cells in the newborn]

The cytochemical parameters (acid and alkaline phosphatases, peroxidase, and glycogen) of the peripheral blood leukocytes were studied in 58 clinically full-term newborns delivered by cesarean section and in 22 healthy newborns delivered spontaneously. Statistically significant deviations of a number of blood biochemical characteristics were detected in the newborns delivered by cesarean section in the course of the early neonatal period (on days 1, 5, 10 of life), this pointing to endogenously predetermined instability of the body of the risk-group babies. The authors regard the cytochemical analysis of the blood cells as a highly sensitive method for the detection of disordered adaptation of the newborns.