Predictive value of early embryonic cardiac activity for pregnancy outcome.

Merchiers, E H; Dhont, M; De Sutter, P A; Beghin, C J; Vandekerckhove, D A · Am J Obstet Gynecol · 1991

cross_sectional · Level IV

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Abstract

The biologic variation of the embryonic heart rate was investigated by transvaginal ultrasonography during the first trimester of normal (n = 141) and abnormal (n = 29) pregnancies, and the predictive value of a repeatedly diagnosed slow heart rate for pregnancy outcome was determined. The mean heart rate increased from 82 +/- 10.3 beats/min at 5 weeks' gestation to 156 +/- 9.6 beats/min at 9 weeks. A single observation of an abnormally slow heart rate did not necessarily predict subsequent embryonic death. However, a continued decline in embryonic heart activity, observed within a few days' interval, was always associated with a first-trimester abortion.

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