[Case of intrauterine retardation and fetal death during labor]

The case concerns to a 37 years old pregnant woman with a history of three miscarriages. Ultrasound biometry in early pregnancy corresponds to the term calculated according the last menstrual period (LMP). At 37 week of gestation was determined retardation of 5 weeks. Doppler velocimetry and quantity of amniotic fluid were in normal ranges and the pregnant refused hospitalization. She was admitted to the hospital three days after the appointed term without uterine contractions. The fetal ultrasound biometry meets 33 weeks and the Doppler examination of a. umbilicalis found resistance index (RI) of the upper limit of normal. The cardiotocography record shows: baseline fetal heart rate--143 beats/min, good variability and reactivity. There was one deceleration for 3 minutes, and then the recording returns to normal. Re-monitoring after 30 minutes establishes of a periodic decelerations and a tendency to bradycardia with reserved variability. At the start of the emergency Cesarean Section fetal heart beats are single. The delivered babe was with Apgar O. The reanimation was not successful and the fetus died. From the autopsy signs of severe asphyxia. In conclusion, it can be assumed that in strongly retarded fetuses, cardiotocography recording and Doppler velosimetry are not sufficiently reliable methods for continued monitoring. In late-onset and severe intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) desirable delivery time is after reaching biological maturity at 36-37 week.