Umbilical cord abnormalities in newborns with birth asphyxia

Introduction. Birth asphyxia is a serious condition that causes neurologic sequelae due to decreased blood flow and oxygen to the fetus. We aimed to identify and describe specific macroscopic and microscopic umbilical cord abnormalities in neonates with asphyxia. Materials and methods. We conducted an observational prospective study over a period of 3 years. 80 patients diagnosed with birth asphyxia which had umbilical cord examination performed were enrolled. The control group consisted in 48 newborns that required neonatal intensive care for at least one week, in the same period of time, for any other reason and that also had available umbilical cord exam. Results. We analyzed data gathered from both groups by applying specific statistical tests for each type of variable and hypothesis. Thus, umbilical cord abnormalities were associated with the hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in a statistically significant manner when comparing the asphyxia group of newborns with the control one (p = .00). Conclusion. Marginal or velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord was associated with high risk of birth asphyxia.