Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 20, 2026
Biochemical Measurement of Neonatal Hypoxia
Published on: August 24, 2011
[Principles and limits of clinical methods in the diagnosis of fetal hypoxia]
Objective:
An overview of electronic fetal monitoring methods (EFM), and an analysis of their physical and technical limits.
Design:
A review article.
Setting:
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
Methods:
An analysis of the literature using database search engines PubMed, and SCOPE in the years 2000 - 2013 in field of diagnostic methods of fetal status in utero.
Results:
The essential aim of modern perinatology is the birth of a live and healthy newborn. This aim is strongly related to the abilities of the diagnostic methods to evaluate the intrauterine fetal status and with the professional skills of obstetricians to analyze these methods accurately. Nowadays, EFM is exposed to criticism, in spite of its widespread use. It is associated with some degree of failure in terms of an over-evaluation and under-evaluation. An over-evaluation of results can lead to unnecessary, often surgical, intervention. An under-evaluation of results can lead to an adverse fetal outcome with a neurologic handicap or intrauterine death. The long-term efforts currently underway to improve the reliability of EFM still remain to show any great progress.
Keywords:
cardiotocography, intermittent auscultation, pulse oximetry, ST analysis, fetal electrocardiography.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Fetal Circulation
Two umbilical arteries transport blood from the fetus to the placenta. At the placenta, the blood absorbs oxygen and nutrients while simultaneously eliminating waste products. This oxygen-enriched and nutrient-rich blood then returns to the fetus through one...
01:19Respiratory Assessment: Purpose and Indications
Objectives and Importance:
The primary goal of respiratory assessment is to evaluate patients at early risk of clinical deterioration. Since respiratory distress often precedes other signs of declining health, breathing patterns and sounds become a...