Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica
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Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand · Sep 2005
Approximate entropy of fetal heart rate variability as a predictor of fetal distress in women at term pregnancy.
The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between approximate entropy (ApEn) of fetal heart rate (FHR) with umbilical blood gas parameters and the power spectrum of FHR variability in Chinese and to test whether ApEn of FHR variability could be used as a predictor of fetal distress in women at term pregnancy. ⋯ The ApEn of FHR variability significantly decreased during fetal asphyxia, including hypoxia, hypercapnia, and both respiratory and metabolic acidosis; low ApEn was linked to decreased power spectrum density in all frequency domains. The ApEn values may be used as a predictor of fetal distress in women at term pregnancy.