Cord blood lactate levels as marker for perinatal hypoxia and predictor for hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy

Introduction: This study was conducted to find if cord blood lactate correlates well with Apgar score and umbilical cord blood pH and subsequent development of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Materials and Methods: It was a cross sectional, observational study which was conducted at a tertiary care referral center of North India from June 2018 to June 2019. Monitoring of cord blood lactate levels along with Apgar and cord blood pH was done for correlation of cord blood lactate with Apgar, cord blood pH, and subsequently development of HIE. Results: During the study period, 115 term neonates got enrolled based on inclusion criteria. Out of these, 83 babies had some degree of HIE based on Sarnat staging. Among these 83 neonates with encephalopathy, 36 had Stage III HIE while, 28 and 19 babies had Stage II and Stage I encephalopathy, respectively. Lactate levels correlated negatively with Apgar score and umbilical cord blood pH and higher levels of lactate correlated well with lower Apgar and cord blood pH. The mean lactate level was significantly higher in cases with HIE (5.18 mmol/L) as compared to cases without HIE (2.91 mmol/L). Conclusion: Our study shows that cord blood lactate can be used as a predictor for perinatal hypoxia. With the availability of cheaper handheld lactate monitors, lactate monitoring may become more practical option and need to be explored.