[Meconium aspiration syndrome. 1. Perinatal problems; etiology and types]

Obstetric literature deals with meconium stained amniotic fluid (AF) in various ways when judging it as an indicator of fetal distress. This evidently reflects the difficulty of finding overt relations between measurable alterations in the condition of the fetus or of the newborn infant and the amount of meconium passed into the AF. Nor is the moment predictable by means of fetal monitoring when meconium is passed. Discussing these problems in the light of the consecutive course of events resulting finally in meconium aspiration some of the discrepancies can be explained without difficulty. Considering also the kinetics of formation and excretion of AF the distinction of 3 variants of meconium aspiration syndrome is possible: 1. late meconium aspiration syndrome in non-asphyctic infants, 2. late meconium aspiration syndrome in asphyctic infants, 3. "connatal" meconium aspiration syndrome.