Original articlePre-ductal and Post-ductal O2 Saturation in Healthy Term Neonates after Birth
Section snippets
Methods
This was a prospective cohort study. The population consisted in healthy term newly born infants born by vaginal delivery or cesarean delivery (C/D). Exclusion criteria are shown in Table I.
For the purpose of the study, 2 investigators and a resident attended every delivery. A second- or third-year resident received the baby and gave all the initial care, and 2 additional physicians (neonatology fellows or attendings) took care of the sensors, monitors, chronometer, and data recording (from
Results
Between Oct 10 and Nov 28 2005, 214 babies were born at our institution. Of these births, 104 infants were excluded from the study, for these reasons: 23 were preterm (<37 weeks), 21 had risk factors for asphyxia, 3 were born by emergency C/D, 2 had congenital anomalies, 4 were twin gestations, 8 needed resuscitation, 3 had parents who denied consent, 22 had parents whom the investigators were unable to approach to obtain informed consent, and 18 were excluded for other reasons (simultaneous
Discussion
Our study demonstrates that, in healthy newborn infants immediately after birth, there is a significant difference between pre-ductal and post-ductal SpO2 levels during the first 15 minutes of life. Most likely this is caused by high pulmonary artery pressure and right-to-left shunt through the ducts arteriosus. Both pre- and post-ductal SpO2 levels rise gradually and do not usually reach 90% in the first 5 minutes of life. The use of monitors with signal extraction technology makes the
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