IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 41 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.12891/ceog17322014

Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology (CEOG) is published by IMR Press from Volume 47 Issue 1 (2020). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.

Original Research
Prolonged saltatory fetal heart rate pattern leading to newborn metabolic acidosis
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1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Porto, S. Joao Hospital, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Porto (Portugal)
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, Utrecht (The Netherlands)
3 Department of Engineering, University of Borås, Borås (Sweden)
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2014, 41(5), 507–511; https://doi.org/10.12891/ceog17322014
Published: 10 October 2014
Abstract

Purpose: The saltatory pattern, characterized by wide and rapid oscillations of the fetal heart rate (FHR), remains a controversial entity. The authors sought to evaluate whether it could be associated with an adverse fetal outcome. Material and Methods: The authors report a case series of four saltatory patterns occurring in the last 30 minutes before birth in association with cord artery metabolic acidosis, obtained from three large databases of internally acquired FHR tracings. The distinctive characteristics of this pattern were evaluated with the aid of a computer system. Results: All cases were recorded in uneventful pregnancies, with normal birthweight singletons, born vaginally at term. The saltatory pattern lasted between 23 and 44 minutes, exhibited a mean oscillatory amplitude of 45.9 to 80.0 beats per minute (bpm) and a frequency between four and eight cycles per minute. Conclusions: A saltatory pattern exceeding 20 minutes can be associated with the occurrence of fetal metabolic acidosis.
Keywords
Heart rate
Fetal
Cardiotocography
Signal processing
Computer- assisted
Fetal hypoxia
Saltatory pattern
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