Comparative Study of Cord Blood Nucleated Red Blood Cell Count in Asphyxiated and Non Asphyxiated Babies at Birth in a Tertiary Health Centre

Abstract

Introduction: Perinatal asphyxia is a major cause of neurological morbidity and mortality among survivors and is a complication that occurs between 5-10% of deliveries. The term asphyxia should be exclusively used to indicate those babies who have metabolic acidosis and hypoxia at birth. Aim: To analyse whether the increase in Nucleated Red Blood Cell Count (NRBC) in asphyxia is significant or not as compared to the non asphyxiated group. Material and Methods: This was a prospective study in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in tertiary care health centre. Cord blood samples were collected from 100 newborns with asphyxia at birth and equal number of normal appropriately matched control to study NRBC per 100 WBC in Cord blood sample. The study was done during the period of December 2013 to November 2015 over 200 newborns. The statistical analysis was done using SPSS software version 16 and Chi-square test. Results: The mean count of NRBC/100 WBC in the study was 25.59±7.19 (SD). Mean count in the control group was 12.69±5.29 (SD). The difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: NRBC count can be useful for the evaluation of perinatal asphyxia, where facilities for pH sampling are not available and can serve as a liable, inexpensive and easily available marker of perinatal asphyxia.

Keywords

• fetal asphyxia
• normoblast
• umblical cord blood
• white blood cell count