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International sensitivity index calibration of the near-patient testing prothrombin time monitor, ProTime.

Near-patient testing devices (monitors) capable of measuring prothrombin time on an unmeasured drop of blood would be suitable alternatives to centralized laboratory monitoring of patients receiving oral anticoagulants. The essential prerequisite for the use of these monitors is their conformity to the international sensitivity index (ISI) calibration model recommended by the World Health Organization. We report on the ISI calibration of the ProTime monitor (International Technidyne, Edison, NJ) designed and approved for patient self-testing. According to our results, this monitor can be calibrated by adopting the model already used for other monitors. The apparent ISI was close to unity. Overall, the international normalized ratio values displayed by the monitor agreed with those measured with the international reference preparation for thromboplastin. Confirmation of these results in a large multicenter study is warranted.

Administration, Oral↗

Electronic monitoring: adherence assessment or intervention?

PURPOSE: Electronic-monitored adherence is often used as the primary outcome measure for evaluating adherence interventions. However, electronic monitoring may not only measure adherence, but may also improve or impede adherence, making it difficult to assess the extent to which the observed effect size is attributed to the intervention versus electronic monitoring. This study examined whether electronic monitoring and patient diaries alter as well as measure adherence. METHOD: A sample of 180 patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) were randomized to one of three adherence surveillance methods (electronic monitoring caps, patient medication diaries, no surveillance control group) for 4 weeks, with adherence measured by a structured interview at baseline and study endpoint; 173 (96%) participants completed the study. RESULTS: After controlling for baseline adherence, a univariate analyses of adherence at study endpoint revealed no significant differences across groups, F(2, 169) = 0.32, p =.73, with mean adherence rates of 91.4, 92.4, and 93.8 for the electronic monitoring, diaries, and control group, respectively. Similarly, the proportion of participants with good adherence (> or = 95%) did not differ significantly from baseline to week 4 among all three subgroups. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that electronic monitoring caps and medication diaries do not alter adherence and can be used as outcome measures of interventions without the need to adjust the observed effect size.

Adult↗

Continuous fiberoptic arterial and venous blood gas monitoring in hemorrhagic shock.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of continuous fiberoptic blood gas monitoring with standard, intermittent blood gas sampling in the measurement of arterial and central venous blood gases during marked hemodynamic changes. DESIGN: Prospective, consecutive, enrollment, experimental study. SETTING: Research laboratory at a university medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Seven anesthetized, mechanically ventilated pigs. INTERVENTIONS: Severe shock was induced by hemorrhage in pigs monitored by a pulmonary artery catheter, an arterial line, and two fiberoptic blood gas sensors: one intra-arterial, and the other inserted into the superior vena cava via right internal jugular vein cutdown. Fiberoptic blood gas monitor measurements were compared with standard intermittent blood gas sampling. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: A total of 184 blood gas samples were compared in seven animals at baseline, during shock, and after resuscitation. The baseline mean (+/- 1 SD) cardiac output decreased from 4.0 +/- 0.9 to 1.2 +/- 0.6 L/min during shock and returned to baseline after retransfusion (3.9 +/- 1.3 L/min). The comparison of continuous fiberoptic blood gas monitoring with intermittent blood gas sampling showed a bias+/-precision of 0.035 +/- 0.047 for arterial pH, 0.021 +/- 0.031 for central venous pH, -4.09 +/- 2.96 mm Hg (-0.55 +/- 0.39 kPa) for arterial Pco2, -3.67 +/- 2.44 mm Hg (-0.49 +/- 0.3 3 kPa) for central venous Pco2, -5.79 +/- 9.64 mm Hg (-0.77 +/- 1.29 kPa) for arterial Po2, and -7.85 +/- 8.52 mm Hg (-1.05 +/- 1.14 kPa) for central venous Po2. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous fiberoptic blood gas monitoring agrees closely with standard intermittent blood gas sampling during severe hemodynamic shifts and has a comparable accuracy for both arterial and venous blood gas measurements. Changes in venous Pco2 have recently been shown to correlate with changes in global tissue perfusion (eg, changes in cardiac output). Such data, available immediately via continuous venous blood gas monitoring, may be useful for monitoring shock and the response to resuscitation.

Animals↗

[A computer-assisted noninvasive monitoring system with graphic display of online determination of cardiovascular parameters].

During anesthesia the cardiovascular system is usually assessed on the basis of heart rate and arterial pressure, although the most important hemodynamic measurement is that of flow. A method for the non-invasive measurement of cardiac output is based on thoracic electrical bio-impedance. The NCCOM3-R7 is a non-invasive cardiac output monitor that makes use of thoracic electrical bioimpedance, which has been shown to provide results comparable with thermodilution in various hemodynamic states both in animals and humans. A new on-line hemodynamic monitoring system has been developed using the non-invasive NCCOM3-R7 (BoMed) cardiac output monitor, a portable microcomputer (NEC Multispeed) in connection with a software package CDDP-1 (BoMed), a Dinamap automatic arterial pressure monitor (Critikon) and an additional 14" display. Every 16 heart beats the cardiac output monitor transfers 11 cardiodynamic parameters in ASCII-format to the microcomputer, where the data are stored. Using the CDDP-1 program the current cardiodynamic status of the patient is displayed numerically and graphically on the monitor screen. Mean arterial pressure is determined by Dinamap and the data must be entered manually in the menu. The program then calculates systemic vascular resistance and left ventricular work index, the CVP being set to 3 torr and PAOP to 6 torr. In the graphic display the current hemodynamic status is shown and the underlying situation is analyzed in terms of systemic vascular resistance and volume-dependent contractility. The reliability of this on-line monitoring system is demonstrated in a high-risk patient.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Anesthesia, General↗

Improvement in glycemic control over 11 years in patients monitored for diabetes in one county.

BACKGROUND: Hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) has been used in controlled trials for the last 10 years but has never been evaluated in clinical practice as an effective parameter for clinical outcome. We investigated the trend for glycemic control over 11 years in one county of 350,000 citizens. METHODS: We studied 226,382 HbA(1c-DCCT-aligned) from 39,455 patients in whom routine monitoring for diabetes was initiated in 1993, 1996, or 2001. The trend in glycemic control was investigated in groups by probit plots, and in individual patients by target plots. RESULTS: From 1993 to 2001, the number of HbA(1c) measurements increased three-fold. The number of new monitoring series increased from 0.22% to 0.27% of the county population, and the number of patients monitored using HbA(1c) as a proxy for diabetes increased from 0.5% to 1.5%. A proportional reduction in high HbA(1c) concentrations of 5% was identified in the 1993 group, compared to 15% in the 1996 group, and 20% in the 2001 group. The percentage of patients with diabetic first HbA(1c) experiencing normalization increased from 8% to 30% for males and from 9% to 24% for females (1993-2001). The percentage of HbA(1c) concentrations that were not normalized decreased from 78% to 53% for males and from 83% to 59% for females (1993-2001). The median HbA(1c) at initiation of monitoring decreased from 8.7% in 1993 to 7.5% in 2001 (p < 10(-5)). The number of normal first HbA(1c) results in monitoring series increased from 7% to 17% for males and from 8% to 22% for females. Up to 10% of subjects developed diabetic concentrations during monitoring. CONCLUSION: On average, patients with diabetic first HbA(1c) concentrations (> or =6.62%) showed an improvement in glycemic control from 5% in 1993 to 20% in 2001. High concentrations were easiest to reduce. In patients with originally diabetic HbA(1c) levels, 66% on average showed improved glycemic control in the 2001 series compared to 50% in the 1993 series. An average of 6% (1993) vs. 9% (2001) with originally normal HbA(1c) levels showed an upward trend inHbA(1c) levels. Median HbA(1c) at initiation of monitoring decreased from 8.7% in 1993 to 7.5% in 2001 (p < 10(-5)). The incidence of new cases was constant.

Adolescent↗

The effect of modern intensive monitoring in obstetrics on infant mortality and the incidence of hypoxia and acidosis.

UNLABELLED: We consider intensive monitoring to be fetal monitoring during labor and in the newborn period of all births using the most efficient methods. During the last ten years we have sequentially used the following techniques: Amnioscopy, blood analysis, estrogen determinations in urine, external and internal cardiotokography and internal pressure determinations, gas analyses of umbilical blood. amniotic fluid analyses (phospholipids), ultrasound (B-apparatus) and HCS determinations. All clinics dealing with risk pregnancies should have these techniques available. Total perinatal mortality decreased to below 2% after introduction of cardiotokography. During the last year it decreased to 0.89%. Premature mortality shows the same decrease and is 50% of total mortality. The frequency of premature deliveries remained unchanged at 6.2%. Both improved intensive monitoring and neonatal reanimation and intensive care contributed to the reduction of perinatal mortality. Continuous heart rate recordings make it possible to uncover hypoxic and acidotic states in time and this is of particular value for the premature infant. The incidence of acidosis (pH less than 7.10) was 2.03% before monitoring was introduced and fell to 0.45% this year when intensive monitoring became the rule. No pH lower than 7.0 was found this year. It is thus not sufficient to monitor only cases at risk, since in about 50% of infants born with acidosis no alarming symptoms were found that would have indicated the need for intensive monitoring. CONCLUSION: Infant mortality should be reduced to less than 1% if the diagnostic tools available are applied. Below this nonviable infants limit further improvement. Perinatal hypoxia and acidosis (below pH 7.10) should also be lower than 0.5% but at least lower than 1%.

Acidosis↗

Mainstream end-tidal carbon dioxide monitoring in the neonatal intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Continuous noninvasive monitoring of arterial carbon dioxide (CO2) in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients would help clinicians avoid complications of hypocarbia and hypercarbia. End-tidal CO2 monitoring has not been used in this population to date, but recent technical advances and the introduction of surfactant therapy, which improves ventilation-perfusion matching, might improve the clinical utility of end-tidal monitoring. OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy and precision of end-tidal CO2 monitoring in NICU patients. DESIGN: Nonrandomized recording of simultaneous end-tidal and arterial CO2 pairs. SETTING: Two university NICUs. PATIENTS: Forty-five newborn infants receiving mechanical ventilation who had indwelling arterial access, and a predefined subsample of infants who were <1000 g birth weight, <8 days of age, and who received surfactant therapy (extremely low birth weight -ELBW- <8). OUTCOME MEASURES: The correlation coefficient, degree of bias, and 95% confidence interval were determined for both the overall population and the ELBW <8 subgroup. Those factors which significantly influenced the bias were identified. The ability of the end-tidal monitor to alert the clinician to instances of hypocarbia or hypercarbia was determined. RESULTS: There were 411 end-tidal/arterial pairs analyzed from 45 patients. The correlation coefficient was 0.833 and the bias was -6. 9 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, +/-11.5 mm Hg). The results did not differ markedly in the ELBW <8 infants. Measures of the degree of lung disease, the ventilation index and the oxygenation index, had small influences on the degree of bias. This type of capnometry identified 91% of the instances when the arterial CO2 pressure was between 34 and 54 mm Hg using an end-tidal range of 29 to 45 mm Hg. End-tidal values outside this range had a 63% accuracy in predicting hypocarbia or hypercarbia. CONCLUSION: End-tidal CO2 monitoring in NICU patients is as accurate as capillary or transcutaneous monitoring but less precise than the latter. It may be useful for trending or for screening patients for abnormal arterial CO2 values.

Capnography↗

Evaluation of environmental monitoring strategies.

In environmental monitoring, it is important that the monitoring system should emit early warnings when undesired events occur. These events may be sudden or of a more subtle nature. In the design of such monitoring systems, a proper balance between cost and risk must be achieved. There are 2 classic types of risk connected with early warning systems, namely the risk of not detecting significant changes and the risk of false alarms. The purpose of this paper is to describe a method for comparing the performance of different monitoring systems, considering the classic types of risk and cost. The method is applied to the monitoring of the lichen cover as a test case. The expected utility has been used as a measure of performance. When estimating the probabilities of the events, spatial microsimulation and Monte-Carlo simulation techniques have been used. The monitoring programs studied are based on satellite images, aerial photos, field samples, and land-cover maps. The major conclusions of this study are that standardized quality measures are extremely useful for evaluating the usability of environmental monitoring methods. In addition, when estimating gains and costs, spatial microsimulation techniques are useful. To improve the method, however, macroconstraints should also be used for aligning the simulation model.

Environmental Monitoring↗

Warfarin monitoring in ambulatory older individuals receiving antimicrobial therapy.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of monitoring of international normalized ratio (INR) within 14 days of coprescription of warfarin and antimicrobial therapy and to evaluate differences in INR monitoring among antimicrobials. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Group model health maintenance organization. SUBJECTS: Patients aged 65 years or older who were taking warfarin and an antimicrobial agent. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients who received dispensings of both warfarin and an antimicrobial agent were identified. We found 2959 coprescribing instances in 1816 patients. The INR values were obtained for 2267 (77%) coprescribing situations within 14 days. Monitoring occurred more frequently (p<0.001) when warfarin was coprescribed with fluoroquinolones (641 [85%] of 755 situations), metronidazole (59 [81%] of 73), tetracyclines (274 [80%] of 341), or macrolides (201 [83%] of 243) than when warfarin was coprescribed with sulfonamides (35 [66%] of 53), penicillins (604 [71%] of 856), or cephalosporins (419 [71%] of 591). Among monitored patients, a higher proportion of monitoring (p<0.001) occurred within 7 days for patients prescribed antifungals (87%), fluoroquinolones (88%), tetracyclines (82%), metronidazole (86%), sulfonamides (86%), or macrolides (85%) than for patients prescribed cephalosporins (68%) or penicillins (75%). CONCLUSION: Most older patients coprescribed warfarin and an antimicrobial in our organization had INR monitoring within 7 days. This is consistent with appropriate practice to manage a risk of clinically important drug-drug interaction between an antimicrobial agent and warfarin. Prospective identification of patients requiring INR monitoring after coprescription of interacting drugs by using merged administrative pharmacy and laboratory data should be further evaluated as a tool to improve clinical outcomes.

Aged↗

Clinical significance and cost-effectiveness of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

Ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring as an adjunct to casual/clinic BP measurements is currently used widely for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. It has been established that ambulatory BP monitoring is essential to confirm "white coat" hypertension, drug-resistant hypertension, duration of drug action, short-term BP variation, and nocturnal and on-the-job BP levels. It is estimated that approximately 10,000 ambulatory BP monitoring devices are currently used in Japan. That number would increase if 1) a standard algorithm with a theoretical basis to determine BP levels is introduced for ambulatory BP monitoring devices based on cuff-oscillometric method, 2) the reproducibility of ambulatory BP levels is confirmed, 3) reference values for evaluating ambulatory BP monitoring levels are established, and 4) the clinical significance and prognostic value of ambulatory BP monitoring is established. If such problems is settled, the use of ambulatory BP monitoring in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension would be national health insurance and would improve the prognostic accuracy of evaluating hypertension as well as the cost-effectiveness of screening, diagnosis and treatment of hypertension.

Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory↗

Frequently co-occurring pesticides and volatile organic compounds in public supply and monitoring wells, southern New Jersey, USA.

One or more pesticides were detected with one or more volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in more than 95% of samples collected from 30 public supply and 95 monitoring wells screened in the unconsolidated surficial aquifer system of southern New Jersey, USA. Overall, more than 140,000 and more than 3,000 unique combinations of pesticides with VOCs were detected in two or more samples from the supply and monitoring wells, respectively. More than 400 of these combinations were detected in 20% or more of the samples from the supply wells, whereas only 17 were detected in 20% or more of the samples from the monitoring wells. Although many constituent combinations detected in water from the supply and monitoring wells are similar, differences in constituent combinations also were found and can be attributed, in part, to differences in the characteristics of these two well types. The monitoring wells sampled during this study yield water that typically was recharged beneath a single land-use setting during a recent, discrete time interval and that flowed along relatively short paths to the wells. Public supply wells, in contrast, yield large volumes of water and typically have contributing areas that are orders of magnitude larger than those of the monitoring wells. These large contributing areas generally encompass multiple land uses; moreover, because flow paths that originate in these areas vary in length, these wells typically yield water that was recharged over a large temporal interval. Water withdrawn from public supply wells, therefore, contains a mixture of waters of different ages that were recharged beneath various land-use settings. Because public supply wells intercept water flowing along longer paths with longer residence times and integrate waters from a larger source area than those associated with monitoring wells, they are more likely to yield water that contains constituents that were used in greater quantities in the past, that were introduced from point sources, and/or that are derived from the degradation of parent compounds along extended flow paths.

Environmental Monitoring↗

Development of a detection tablet for a portable NO2 monitoring system.

We have already developed a HCHO monitoring system which is called FP-30. In this experiment, we have developed a NO(2) detection tablet which can be used by the monitoring system. The detection tablet for the NO(2) was constructed with the sensing paper: porous cellulose paper that contains silica gel as an adsorbent, N-1-naphthylethylenediamine dihydrochloride (NED), and glycerin. The NO(2) in sample gas was blown over and adsorbed on the surface of the sensing paper. Then the NO(2) reacted with NED, producing a yellow compound. The coloring reaction took place on the surface of the sensing paper. The degree of color change of paper from white to yellow was monitored as a function of the intensity of the reflected light (lambda = 475 nm) of an LED. The detection limit was 0.01 ppm when the sampling time was 30 min, and the flow rate of sample gas was 250 ml/min. This sensing paper process was not interfered with by acetaldehyde, acetone, alcohols, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide. The NO(2) concentrations in the rooms of a house or school were monitored using this monitoring system and the standard chemiluminescence method. The concentrations of NO(2) monitored by both methods were within 18% of the average. This highly sensitive, selective, and handy NO(2) gas monitoring system will be widely applicable and convenient for users who are not specialists in this field.

Air Pollutants↗

Therapeutic drug monitoring in oncology. Problems and potential in antineoplastic therapy.

Therapeutic drug monitoring is now widely used in many areas of medicine. With its proliferation has come an understanding of the clinical situations in which it is likely to be of value. Factors that can limit the usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring and situations where it is less likely to be of benefit have also been identified. At present, the routine use of therapeutic drug monitoring in antineoplastic therapy is limited to measurement of plasma methotrexate concentrations after high-dose methotrexate therapy. The lack of a more widespread application of therapeutic drug monitoring in oncology has been due to deficiencies in knowledge about the clinical pharmacology of antineoplastic agents and to factors specific to the chemotherapy of neoplasms. These factors include the broad heterogeneity of malignant neoplasms, the complexities of the drug-tumour interaction, difficulties in assessment of this interaction and the use of combinations of antineoplastic agents with cumulative efficacies and toxicities. Despite these problems, there are many areas in antineoplastic therapy where the use of therapeutic drug monitoring could prove of benefit. The prevention of the chronic pulmonary toxicity of bleomycin, the assessment of the bioavailability of oral chemotherapy, and monitoring drug disposition in the presence of hepatic or renal dysfunction are just some of the potential applications. If recent emphasis on dose as a critical factor in the success of cancer chemotherapy is substantiated, then the need to apply therapeutic drug monitoring within oncology will become more pressing.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Therapeutic drug concentration monitoring using saliva samples. Focus on anticonvulsants.

In the last 30 years there has been great interest in the use of saliva in therapeutic drug monitoring. Numerous investigators have suggested that saliva be used as an alternative body fluid for the therapeutic drug monitoring of anticonvulsant drugs. Not only can saliva be obtained easily on multiple occasions with minimal discomfort to the patient but, more importantly, useful relationships exist between the saliva and blood concentrations of the most commonly used anticonvulsant drugs. The measurement of anticonvulsant drug concentrations in saliva has been applied to pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies, and for therapeutic drug monitoring in a variety of seizure disorders. However, this simple and non-invasive method is not widely accepted in clinical practice. Several recent developments in sample collection and analytical methods, and the growing interest in free drug concentrations, provide a renewed impetus for saliva sampling for therapeutic drug monitoring of anticonvulsant drugs. Salivary flow rates vary significantly both between individuals and under different conditions. The use of stimulated saliva has several advantages over resting saliva. The salivary flow rate and pH, sampling conditions, contamination and many other pathophysiological factors may influence the concentrations of the medication in saliva. However, under standardised and well-controlled sampling condition, therapeutic drug monitoring of anticonvulsant drugs in saliva can be useful for determining compliance with medication in paediatric patients, for analysing the concentration of free drug and in situations where repeated sampling is necessary. Saliva is an alternative matrix for the therapeutic drug monitoring of carbamazepine, phenytoin, primidone and ethosuximide because the concentrations of these medications in saliva reflect the concentrations of the drug in serum. This is not the case for valproic acid (valproate sodium) and some controversy exists for phenobarbital. Further studies are required to assess the clinical value of monitoring anticonvulsant drugs and their metabolites in saliva, to examine the influence of pathophysiological factors on salivary drug concentrations, to improve the design of special devices to reproducibly and conveniently collect saliva samples, and to develop and use new analytical methods to achieve more sensitive and accurate results.

Anticonvulsants↗

Intensified blood glucose monitoring improves glycemic control in stable, insulin-treated veterans with type 2 diabetes: the Diabetes Outcomes in Veterans Study (DOVES).

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of intensified self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG) testing on glycemic control. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Subjects with stable, insulin-treated type 2 diabetes performed SMBG using an electronic blood glucose meter before all meals and at bedtime for 8 weeks. Baseline data were collected on demographics, clinical characteristics, diet, and exercise. HbA(1c) was measured at baseline, at 4 weeks, and at 8 weeks. After the intensified monitoring period, subjects resumed their usual monitoring. HbA(1c) was then measured at 24, 37, and 52 weeks. Multivariate linear regression was used to determine the effect of monitoring on glycemic control. RESULTS: A total of 201 subjects completed the monitoring period. The baseline HbA(1c) (8.10 +/- 1.67%) decreased during the monitoring period by 0.30 +/- 0.68% (P < 0.001) at 4 weeks and by 0.36 +/- 0.88% (P < 0.001) at 8 weeks. Although entry HbA(1c) and compliance independently predicted the week 8 HbA(1c) (r = 0.862, P < 0.001), standardized regression analysis found that compliance with the SMBG protocol influenced the week 8 HbA(1c) more than age, sex, BMI, exercise level, carbohydrate consumption, or treatment intensity at baseline. However, SMBG benefited only subjects whose testing compliance exceeded 75% or with an entry HbA(1c) >8.0%. Decreases in HbA(1c) (-0.31 +/- 1.17%, P = 0.001) persisted in the 159 subjects followed for 52 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Intensified blood glucose monitoring improved glycemic control in a large cohort of stable, insulin-treated veterans with type 2 diabetes. SMBG provided a strong stimulus for improved self-care resulting in clinically important and sustained reductions in HbA(1c).

Biomarkers↗

Frequency and accuracy of self-monitoring of blood glucose in children: relationship to glycemic control.

We evaluated the long-term effects of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) on glycemic control in a large unselected group of insulin-dependent diabetic (IDD) children and adolescents (N = 282) treated at a diabetes clinic. Among those who had been taught SMBG techniques (N = 229) and reported frequency of use (N = 209), only 26% reported monitoring three or more times per day. HbA1 levels of patients who monitored their blood most frequently did not differ from those who monitored blood less frequently or those who monitored only urine. Likewise, HbA1 levels of patients who monitored with machines did not differ from Chemstrip bG users. Accuracy was assessed in a subsample of 100 randomly selected Chemstrip bG users by comparing their Chemstrip reading with a laboratory value. Fifty-eight percent of the readings were within 20% of the laboratory value. Accuracy did not relate to frequency of monitoring or to HbA1 levels. These data suggest that frequency and accuracy of SMBG are independent and that neither ensures good glycemic control.

Adolescent↗

Clinical fetal monitoring. The usage and relationship to trends in cesarean delivery and perinatal mortality.

During the six years 1970--1975, 62,266 deliveries occurred at Women's Hospital, Los Angeles Country--University of Southern California Medical Center. Of these patients, 18,106 (29 per cent) were monitored, with an incidence of 18 per cent in 1970 which rose to 35 per cent in 1975. The patients were divided into monitored and unmonitored groups for comparison of cesarean section rates and various aspects of perinatal mortality. The overall cesarean section rate was 9.6 per cent with 2,830 cesareans performed in monitored patients (16 per cent) and 3,124 in those unmonitored, a 7 per cent incidence including repeat cesarean. The cesarean rate remained remarkably stable over the 6-year study period even though the monitoring incidence nearly doubled. From 1970 to 1975, the intrapartum death rate fell progressively in contrast to the incidence of antepartum fetal deaths, which remained unchanged. Overall, 50 per cent survival rate was achieved in the birth weight range of 1,200 grams. A particular group of perinatal patients who apparently benefited from intrapartum monitoring were those liveborns with birth weights of 1,500 grams or less. Over the study period, the neonatal mortality in monitored patients declined, whereas mortality in the neonates which were not monitored during labor remained high.

Cesarean Section↗

Effects of electronic fetal monitoring on rates of early neonatal death, low Apgar score, and cesarean section.

Using data from the University Hospital in Odense, Denmark, we have studied the effects of electronic fetal monitoring on rates of early neonatal death (death of liveborn within first week of life), low five-minute Apgar score (less than 7), and cesarean section. Approximately 22 000 births occurring in 1974 - 82 were studied, of which 13% were electronically monitored. Monitoring was significantly associated with an elevated cesarean rate in low-risk labors and certain high-risk labors, but appeared not to increase the cesarean rate in all high-risk labors. In high-risk labors, monitoring was associated with an approximate 40% reduction in rates of low Apgar score and early neonatal death, but neither reduction was statistically significant. The associations of monitoring with elevated cesarean rate declined significantly over the study period. These results accord closely with studies conducted in the United States, indicating that monitoring is of benefit in high-risk labors, but leads to excessive cesarean deliveries in low-risk labors. Our study additionally indicates that the effect of monitoring on the cesarean rate has been declining over time.

Adult↗