The fetal and labor outcome of 102 positive contraction stress tests

A total of 5447 contraction stress tests (CST) were performed on 3246 high-risk patients during pregnancy. Positive tests occurred in 102 patients (3.1%), 59 of whom had primary cesarean sections. Labor was induced in 40 patients (39.2%), and 17 developed cardiotocographic evidence of fetal distress. In 2 patients labor was terminated due to prolapse of the umblilical cord, and the remaining 21 patients did not develop fetal distress. Fetal distress was more common in patients with proved intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and where the acceleration patterns were not noted during the CST. Only 23% of the patients delivered vaginally. The fetal loss was 100% in those infants weighing less than 1000 g, but no infant weighing greater than or equal to 2500 g died. The overall perinatal mortality was 8.7%. The incidence of late decelerations during labor, low 5-minute Apgar scores, and small-for-date infants was significantly higher in patients with positive stress tests than in a control group of 257 patients with negative stress tests done over the same period of time.