[Lactate and glucose determination using biosensors in umbilical cord blood]

Postpartal determination of lactate and glucose in the umbilical cord whole blood of 139 successive deliveries utilizing biosensors (blood gas analysator 865, Ciba Corning) are presented. The median lactate value in the umbilical arterial blood is 4.45 mmol/l and in the venous blood 4.23 mmol/l. Following categorization into control and high-risk groups, the arterial mean values are 4.23 mmol/l and 6.39 mmol/l and the respective venous values are 3.95 mmol/l and 5.04 mmol/l. Using the U-test these differences between the control and high-risk groups are significant. The mean of the measured lactate correlates significantly with the mean of the calculated base excess (< 0.001). The mean glucose value in the umbilical arterial blood is 78 mg/dl and in the venous 93 mg/dl. Between high-risk and control group no significant difference is found.