Neuropathology of the near-term and midgestation ovine fetal brain after sustained in utero hypoxemia

OBJECTIVE: The neuropathologic mechanisms of the ovine fetal brain in response to several hours of sustained hypoxemia with variable degrees of metabolic acidemia was investigated in both the preterm and near-term ovine fetus. STUDY DESIGN: Three groups of fetuses were studied in each of the near-te...

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Veröffentlicht in:American journal of obstetrics and gynecology 1994-05, Vol.170 (5), p.1425-1432
Hauptverfasser: Penning, Donald H., Grafe, Marjorie R., Hammond, Robert, Matsuda, Yoshio, Patrick, John, Richardson, Bryan
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:OBJECTIVE: The neuropathologic mechanisms of the ovine fetal brain in response to several hours of sustained hypoxemia with variable degrees of metabolic acidemia was investigated in both the preterm and near-term ovine fetus. STUDY DESIGN: Three groups of fetuses were studied in each of the near-term and midgestation groups: a hypoxic group, a control group, and an uninstrumented control group. Histopathologic studies were performed after a 40-hour recovery period after experimentation. RESULTS: Pathologic findings consisted of predominately white matter damage with some adjacent cortical necrosis but no selective neuronal injury. In the near-term group the hypoxia group fetuses demonstrated significantly higher white matter injury scores than did control group fetuses (p < 0.05). Periventricular white matter injury was the predominant pattern seen in the midgestation group. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of normalization of biophysical and biochemical parameters after hypoxemia both midgestation and near-term fetuses sustained pathologic changes. Presence or extent of injury did not correlate with the degree of hypoxemia or metabolic acidosis achieved.
ISSN:0002-9378
1097-6868
DOI:10.1016/S0002-9378(13)90484-1