Outcomes Poor in Infants with Zero Apgar at 10 Minutes

Ninety-five percent of infants either died later on or were severely handicapped

THURSDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Infants who have a zero Apgar score 10 minutes after birth, but are successfully resuscitated, usually die later on or are severely handicapped, according to a report in the May issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Deborah Harrington, M.D., of John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, U.K. and colleagues reviewed cases of stillborn resuscitation found in the literature and gathered data prospectively at their hospital on infants with an Apgar score of zero 10 minutes after birth.

Overall, the combined analysis included 94 cases, nine of which occurred in the Oxford database. The investigators found that 94 percent of infants with an Apgar score of zero at 10 minutes either died or were severely handicapped. Death or severe disability occurred in eight of the nine cases in the Oxford database. The remaining infant had mild disability during a two-year follow-up exam.

"The current review more than doubles the previous reviews on the subject and supports the new International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation guidelines on withdrawal of support in neonates with an Apgar score of zero at 10 minutes," according to an accompanying editorial by Waldemar Carlo, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a colleague.

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