Lactate concentration in umbilical cord blood is gestational age-dependent: a population-based study of 17 867 newborns

doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2008.01707.x

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Wiley InterScience

BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Volume 115 Issue 6, Pages 704 - 709

Published Online: 9 Apr 2008

Published on behalf of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

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Lactate concentration in umbilical cord blood is gestational age-dependent: a population-based study of 17 867 newborns

N Wiberg, ^a K Källén, ^b A Herbst, ^c A Åberg, ^c P Olofsson ^a

^a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden ^b Centre for Reproductive Epidemiology, Tornblad Institute, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden ^c Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Lund University Hospital, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden

Correspondence to Dr N Wiberg, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Malmö University Hospital, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden. Email nana.wiberg@med.lu.se

KEYWORDS

Apgar score • blood gases • gestational age • lactate • umbilical cord blood

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the influence of gestational age on lactate concentration in arterial and venous umbilical cord blood at birth and to define gestational age-specific reference values for lactate in vigorous newborns.

Design Population-based comparative.

Setting University hospitals.

Sample Vigorous newborns with validated umbilical cord blood samples.

Material and methods From 2000 to 2004, routine cord blood gases, lactate and obstetric data from two university hospitals were available for 17 867 newborns from gestational week 24 to 43. After validation of blood samples and inclusion only of singleton pregnancies aimed for vaginal delivery, 10 700 women remained. Among those, reference values were defined in 10 169 vigorous newborns, that is in newborns with a 5-minute Apgar score corresponding to the gestational age-specific median value minus 1 point score, or better.

Main outcome measures Cord lactate concentration relative to gestational age.

Results The arterial and venous lactate concentrations increased monotonously with gestational age from 34 weeks. Considerable differences were found between mean and median values, but after logarithmic transformation the log-lactate values were normally distributed. Simple linear regression analysis showed a significant association between the log-lactate values and gestational age (P < 10⁻⁶, R²= 0.024). Reference curves were constructed after anti-logarithmic transformation. Both the gestational age and the time of the second stage of labour influenced, independently of each other, the lactate concentrations.

Conclusions Lactate concentrations in arterial and venous umbilical cord blood are increasing significantly with advancing gestational age.

Accepted 7 February 2008.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1471-0528.2008.01707.x About DOI