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Observational Study
. 2019 Mar 14;14(3):e0213537.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213537. eCollection 2019.

Lactate acidosis and cardiac output during initial therapeutic cooling in asphyxiated newborn infants

Affiliations
Observational Study

Lactate acidosis and cardiac output during initial therapeutic cooling in asphyxiated newborn infants

Vibeke Ramsgaard Eriksen et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Aim: We hypothesized that compromised cardiac output in asphyxiated infants may influence on the rate of disappearance of lactate due to insufficient perfusion.

Methods: The study was a prospective, observational study, where infants with perinatal asphyxia who met the criteria for therapeutic hypothermia were included. Cardiac output, stroke volume and heart rate were measured by electrical velocimetry in 15 newborn infants with perinatal asphyxia during the first six hours of active therapeutic hypothermia. Results from routine blood samples were collected retrospectively. Cardiac parameters were also measured in 10 healthy, term infants after caesarian section. Cardiac parameters were compared between the asphyxiated group and the control group prior to and during hypothermia. Rate of disappearance of lactate was correlated to cardiac output in the asphyxiated infants.

Results: Cardiac output was stable in the healthy infants from 0.5 to 6 hours postnatally. The infants with perinatal asphyxia had lower cardiac output prior to and during therapeutic hypothermia compared to the control group. Rate of disappearance of lactate was not related to cardiac output.

Conclusion: An association between disappearance of lactate acidosis and low cardiac output was not confirmed. A low rate of disappearance of lactate may rather be an indicator of organ injury due to asphyxia.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Cardiac output in healthy control infants 0.5 to 6.5-hour postnatal age.
Cardiac output was stable in the first 6.5 hours postnatally in 10 healthy control infants delivered by elective caesarian section. Results are given as mean with 95% confidence interval.
Fig 2
Fig 2
Comparison of (A) cardiac output, (B) heart rate, and (C) stroke volume between healthy control infants (n = 10) and normothermic asphyxiated infants (n = 5) and hypothermic asphyxiated infants (n = 15). The lines represent mean values.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Relation between rate of disappearance of lactate and cardiac output in hypothermic asphyxiated infants.
Regression line and 95% confidence limits, R2 = 0.067.

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