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Updated: May 18, 2026
Fetal Echocardiography and Pulsed-wave Doppler Ultrasound in a Rabbit Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction
Published on: June 29, 2013
Nonstress testing at ≤ 32.0 weeks' gestation: a randomized trial comparing different assessment criteria
Larry M Cousins1, Debra M Poeltler, Sue Faron
1Maternal Fetal Medicine Division, San Diego Perinatal Center and Children's Specialists of San Diego, San Diego, CA 92123, USA. Larry.Cousins@sharp.com
Objective:
Comparison of time and outcomes of National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development defined fetal heart rate acceleration criteria at ≤ 32 weeks (≥ 10 beats/min, ≥ 10 seconds) compared with standard criteria (≥ 15 beats/min, ≥ 15 seconds).
Study Design:
Singleton high-risk pregnancies that were referred for nonstress testing at ≤ 32 weeks' gestation were randomly assigned to 15 × 15 or 10 × 10 criteria. Data included nonstress test information, maternal data, and outcomes.
Results:
One hundred forty-three women were randomly assigned to 15 × 15 (n = 71) or 10 × 10 (n = 72). The groups were similar in maternal and pregnancy characteristics. Median time to reactive nonstress testing was shorter in the 10 × 10 group (37.3 minutes) than the 15 × 15 group (41.3 minutes; P = .04). There were no serious adverse events.
Conclusion:
The time to attain a reactive nonstress testing at ≤ 32 weeks' gestation was 4 minutes shorter when the 10 × 10 criteria were used. There were no adverse events related to use of 10 × 10 nonstress testing criteria.
