Histologic and biochemical study of the brain, heart, kidney, and liver in asphyxia caused by occlusion of the umbilical cord in near-term fetal lambs☆
Section snippets
Animal procedures
The experimental animals consisted of 8 asphyxiated and 6 sham-asphyxiated, control, near-term fetal lambs. Sham-asphyxiated control animals were instrumented but did not undergo umbilical cord occlusion. We used data derived in part from previous experiments.11
This study was approved by the Animal Research Committee of the University of California, Irvine. The surgical procedures and postoperative care of the animals have previously been described.11 Ewes with timed pregnancies were purchased
Results
There were no differences between the control and asphyxiated groups in any of the following: gestational age at autopsy (132 ± 2.6 days vs 131 ± 2.7 days, respectively [mean ± SD]), fetal weight (2795 ± 287 g vs 2689 ± 337 g), brain weight (44 ± 4 g vs 44 ± 4 g), heart weight (20 ± 5 g vs 17 ± 4 g), weight of both kidneys (19 ± 7 g vs 19 ± 7 g), and liver weight (78 ± 27 g vs 73 ± 30 g).
The severity of the histologic changes varied from case to case, ranging from extremely subtle and patchy
Comment
Previous clinical studies have demonstrated the occurrence of multiorgan system complications in asphyxiated newborns and the relationship to severe acidemia.1, 2, 3 An increased incidence in the frequency of cerebral, cardiac, renal, and pulmonary dysfunction in the newborn was reported as the umbilical arterial pH decreased from 7.00 to 6.61.1 These clinical observations were made on newborns subjected to asphyxia of, in general, unknown duration and severity and that were delivered at
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Neonatal multiple organ failure after perinatal asphyxia
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2013, Veterinary JournalCitation Excerpt :Severe respiratory and metabolic acidosis resulting from hypoxia may compromise survival in the newborn calf (Grove-White, 2000; Bleul et al., 2007). The cascading effects of asphyxia can cause decreased blood flow to the liver and kidneys leading to hepatic necrosis, liver dysfunction and renal tubular necrosis, as seen in neonatal calves and lambs (Mulling, 1977; Ikeda et al., 2000). Other implications in calves include aspiration pneumonia, edema, bleeding, and death (Mulling, 1977; Poulsen and McGuirk, 2009).
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Reprint requests: Tomoaki Ikeda, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Miyazaki Medical College, 5200 Kihara, Kiyotake-Cho, Miyazaki 889-16, Japan.