Introduction: Birth asphyxia is the most common cause of mortality and morbidity in new borns. Asphyxia can cause damage to almost every tissue and organ of the new born baby secondary to hypoxia.
Objective: TO study the neurological signs in term neonates with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy that appear following asphyxia and correlation of conventional umbilical cord blood parameters with seizures and mortality among cases and controls.
Materials and Method of study :A prospective case control study was conducted in term babies from which 60 cases of birth asphyxia and 30 cases of normal newborn delivered in Rajah Muthiah Medical College, and Hospital, Chidambaram over a period of 1 year. Immediately after birth, blood was drawn from clamped umbilical cord, and sent for ABG analysis and parameters like pH, PCo2, Po2, HCo3, Base excess and oxygen saturation were observed.
Results: Increased risk of seizures , mortality was associated with severe birth asphyxia with decreased umbilical arterial pH. Compare to PO2 value, difference in PCO2 and base excess values between cases and controls was associated with increased risk of neurological disability.
Conclusion: pH < 7, high PCO2, base excess values were significantly associated with neurological outcome. Umbilical cord, PCO2, base excess are better indicators of neonatal mortality and morbidity than PO2 level.
