BACKGROUND Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is an important cause of neonatal morbidity, mortality, and neurologic handicap in children. Dysfunction of organs other than central nervous system is often recognised after perinatal asphyxia and manifests as hypoxic ischaemic insults to heart, lungs, kidneys and bowel. The purpose of this study was to assess the spectrum of multi-organ system involvement in perinatal asphyxia. METHODS This observational, descriptive study was conducted at SVRRGGH (Sri Venkateswara Ramnarayan Ruia Government General Hospital) - Tirupati from October 2010 to September 2011 and has Institutional Ethics Committee approval (Regd. No: 58647, Dt: 20 / 11 / 2010). After considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 204 neonates diagnosed with perinatal asphyxia who got admitted in our newborn intensive care unit (NICU) were included in this study. RESULTS In the present study, we had 118 (57.89 %) male babies and 86 (42.11 %) female babies. The mean birth weight was 2640 +/- 460 grams. Infants of birth weight 2500 - 4000 grams (appropriate for gestational age - AGA) accounted for 202 (98.96 %). Major maternal risk factors in this study were MSAF (meconium-stained amniotic fluid (66/204, 32.4 %), PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension) and Eclampsia (26/204, 12.7 %) and PROM (premature rupture of membranes) (26/204, 12.7 %). In the present study, we found higher mortality (19/117, 16.2 %) in babies born to multiparous mothers. Respiratory system involvement was seen in 80 (39.2 %) infants. Renal involvement was observed in 58 (27.5 %) infants. Acute renal failure was diagnosed in 22 (10.8 %) cases. CVS (cardiovascular system) involvement was seen in 56 (27.5 %) cases where as GIT (gastrointestinal tract) involvement was found in 32 (15.68 %) cases. CONCLUSIONS Epidemiological research is needed to accurately estimate the contribution of birth asphyxia to perinatal morbidity and mortality, especially in community settings where the burden of disease, due to high proportion of unattended deliveries, is likely to be larger than the hospital setting. KEYWORDS Perinatal Asphyxia, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy, Multi Organ Dysfunction, Cardiovascular System
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