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Neonatal haemorrhagic shock due to Benckiser's haemorrhage with intact membranes - a case report
Dimitra Papasavva1, Cristina Felice-Civitillo1, Delphine Le Mercier2
1Neonatal and Intensive care Unit, Woman-Child-adolescent Department, Geneva University hospitals and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Introduction:
Benckiser's haemorrhage is a severe obstetric complication caused by the rupture of umbilical vessels from velamentous cord insertion. Although it is rare, this complication can be life-threatening for newborns, with a mortality rate ranging from 75% to 100%.
Case Report:
We report a case of a late preterm newborn who developed hypovolemic shock and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy requiring urgent and intensive resuscitation, including blood transfusion and therapeutic hypothermia. Postoperatively, a rupture of the umbilical cord vessels was confirmed although there were no signs of membrane rupture. However, he died at four days of age because of multi-organ failure and severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.
Conclusion:
This case highlights the possibility of umbilical vessels rupture with intact membranes and emphasizes the importance of early recognition of the rupture to perform an urgent cesarean delivery and provide a prompt neonatal resuscitation, which may improve the neonatal outcome.
