Adverse neonatal outcome and veno-arterial differences in umbilical cord blood pH (ΔpH) at birth: a population-based study of 108,629 newborns

Umbilical cord blood gases are the most objective measure of the newborn’s metabolic condition at birth [1‐3]. Sustained intrapartum hypoxia may lead to metabolic acidosis in the fetus and increase the risk of hypoxic brain injury [1, 4]. Previous studies have shown that analysis of cord blood gases, especially cord arterial pH (UApH), can identify newborns at risk of adverse neurological outcomes when most clinical and radiological signs are still absent [3‐5]. Cord blood gases are also routinely used in quality assurance of obstetric care by midwives and clinicians, in research and form the basis for solving medicolegal issues in identification of severe intrapartum hypoxia [6].

For the identification of an accurate UApH value, it is important to obtain a correct cord venous pH (UVpH) [7], and although cord arterial blood gases best represent the newborn’s metabolic condition, it is often the umbilical vein that is more easily sampled due to its larger size. Studies have demonstrated the usefulness of cord venous pH as a proxy for cord arterial pH [1, 8]. However, the scientific value of veno-arterial differences in cord pH, also known as ΔpH, are largely undetermined.

Delta pH is widely recognized in the clinical setting, but only a handful of studies have attempted to demonstrate its association with fetal outcomes. A small study evaluating the relationship of ΔpH to cardiotocography patterns found no relation between large ΔpH and acute onset acidemia [9]. Belai and colleagues [10] were able to show a weak correlation of ΔpH to Apgar score, seizures, and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Clinicians, on the other hand, have often relied on the use of the Apgar score to predict adverse neonatal outcome in hypoxic newborns [11‐15], but there is need to identify more accurate markers for perinatal asphyxia due to large inter-observer and regional variations with the Apgar score [16]. Determination of ΔpH can therefore be a potential tool for the rapid identification of newborns suffering from perinatal asphyxia.

Using a large, population-based cohort, we aimed to explore the association of veno-arterial differences in cord pH (i.e. the difference between UVpH and UApH), namely ΔpH, with adverse neonatal outcome.

We investigated the association of veno-arterial differences in cord pH (ΔpH) with adverse neonatal outcome and found that large differences between umbilical cord venous and arterial pH (‘Large ΔpH’) were strongly associated with a lower relative risk for Apgar < 7 at 5 minutes, need for CPAP and NICU admission. These changes were strongest for infants born without acidemia.

As oxygen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen ions readily diffuse across the placenta to the maternal side for elimination, the fetus is dependent on adequate placental function in order to maintain its acid-base balance [23]. This dependency is especially important during birth, when the intermittent compressions of the umbilical cord, caused by forceful uterine contractions, lead to partial suspension of cord blood flow to and from the fetus leading to considerable metabolic stress in the fetus [24].

Clinically, most cases of fetal acidosis are acute in onset and are accompanied by large veno-arterial differences in pH (i.e. ‘Large ΔpH’). This is because the extracellular placental compartment has not had enough time to become saturated with acids from the fetus, or cord occlusion or fetal bradycardia have prevented fetal acids from being transferred to the placenta [7, 25, 26]. However, where a degree of chronic hypoxia has occurred, both the venous and arterial gases will show metabolic acidosis with a small veno-arterial difference (i.e. ‘Small ΔpH’) [7, 25, 26]. This information explains our finding that ‘Large ΔpH’ were associated with a decreased risk of adverse neonatal outcome because it likely reflects an acute intrapartum insult with a venous pH in the normal range.

Earlier studies have investigated the role of different cord blood gas parameters in predicting perinatal outcomes. Knutzen et al. [27] found that once pH was considered, base deficit was not of additional help in predicting adverse neonatal outcomes. As base deficit is a key component in respiratory acidosis, Low et al. [28] showed that acute acidosis was not linked to adverse outcome in the same way as metabolic acidosis. On the other hand, Wiberg and colleagues [29] found that umbilical cord lactate values were as good as cord pH or base deficit in predicting depressed neonatal condition at birth. Due to methodological confounding involved in calculation of base deficit, lactate may replace base deficit as an acid–base outcome parameter at birth. In essence, these studies highlight the difference between respiratory acidosis, which is considered short standing, as compared to the more longstanding metabolic acidosis that depletes the fetus’s buffer store.

It is well known that umbilical cord pH analysis gives a picture of the metabolic state of the newborn at birth, but previous studies have presented conflicting data. Martin et al. [30] in a small study comparing nuchal cord labors with acidosis (N = 33) to normal labors, found large differences between UVpH and UApH but the Apgar score was not affected. Different outcomes have been observed for acute versus the chronic acidosis, as seen by Bobrow et al. [24], where chronic acidosis was associated with adverse outcome for neonates. Importantly, since pH is based on a logarithmic scale, a unit decrease in pH is much more substantial than a unit decrease in the corresponding hydrogen ion concentration, an effect that becomes ever stronger with decreasing pH [31].

Our data showed that a ‘Large ΔpH’ was associated with decreased risk for adverse neonatal outcome, yet only 1 % of the cases with the lowest Apgar score had a ‘Small’ or ‘Large ΔpH’.

Whilst reviewing the literature, only a handful studies were found to have investigated the prognostic value and clinical significance of veno-arterial differences in cord pH [1, 4, 8‐10, 29] with only one study correlating these differences to adverse neonatal outcome. A study evaluating ΔpH in relation to cardiotocography patterns, found no relation between large ΔpH and acute onset acidemia [9]. The sample size, however, was small (N = 83). Similarly, Belai et al. [10], showed a weak correlation of ΔpH to Apgar Score, seizures and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. By using a large population-based cohort with validated cord blood gases, this study has comprehensively correlated differences in ΔpH to adverse neonatal outcome.

The major strengths of the current study stem from the large sample size and the meticulous validation of paired umbilical cord blood pH values. As small ΔpH may occur physiologically [17], cut-offs were set at identical and negative ΔpH to minimize the introduction of selection bias. There are several pitfalls in cord blood sampling and analyses [17], but the procedure has been routinely used in Sweden for many years and a high-quality dataset was therefore obtained [32]. On the other hand, discarding all single pH samples could have introduced a systematic selection bias in the study. Possible causes for single vessel samples, at 62% of all cases can be explained in several clinical situations. Dual vessel samples are generally drawn from the cord at birth but may not be analyzed when the newborn is healthy. In contrast, with an emergency birth or a suspected asphyxiated newborn, umbilical cord blood gases may not be prioritized due to the urgency in the care of the infant and may lead to a single sample taken to save valuable time. Regardless, the sample size of the current study was large enough to account for this step in the data cleaning process which was essential to obtain values from both cord artery and vein pH. Data was obtained from an established regional database which was used by nine different maternity centers all following the same general routines and procedures. The study population was therefore representative of the whole population [32].

Large ΔpH was associated with a lower risk for neonatal morbidity including low 5-minute Apgar score, the need for CPAP and NICU admission when UApH was above 7.15. Reference values for ∆pH, including stratification of percentile values according to UApH, were reported. Our findings may have important clinical implications in the assessment of the metabolic state of the newborn at birth. They may stem from the positive effects of maintained placenta function during birth and the ability of the placenta to adequately replenish acid-base balance in fetal blood leading to a large veno-arterial differences in cord blood pH. A ‘Large ΔpH’ may therefore be a marker of effective gas exchange in the placenta during birth. Further studies are warranted to investigate changes in ΔpH in correlation to carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in umbilical cord blood gases to verify this hypothesis.