Meconium aspiration syndrome

In the years 1977-82, 43 infants with the meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) were managed at the Department of Paediatrics of Turku University Central Hospital (TUCH), Finland. Among 5,353 deliveries in one year the incidence of meconium staining was 8.7%. By extrapolation, the incidence of meconium aspiration in all newborns is approximately 0.13%. The mean duration of the pregnancies was 39.2 +/- 2.6 (SD) weeks and the weight of newborns was 3570 +/- 692 g which were similar to those of the reference group. The rate of Cesarean sections in the group with MAS was significantly higher than in the reference group (40% and 11.6%, respectively). Sixty-nine per cent of the newborns with MAS showed signs of depression during or after labour, while the incidence of same symptoms in the reference group was only 2.7% (P < 0.001). None of the infants with MAS died. Late sequelae were encountered in three babies in 1 to 6 years of follow-up.