Perinatal outcomes of sonographically detected nuchal cord in southeastern Turkey

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the outcomes of pregnancies with a sonographically detected nuchal cord (NC) from a single center in southeastern Turkey. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was carried out at Maternity and Child Health Hospital Diyarbakir, Turkey, between 2011 and 2013. A total of 477 pregnancies with sonographically detected NC during the second and third trimester of gestation (20-40 weeks) were included. The control group consisted of 1,043 randomly selected pregnancies without NC matched for gestational age at the time of ultrasound examination. Outcome variables, including maternal age, parity, gestational age at delivery, mode of delivery, intrapartum fetal heart abnormalities, meconium-stained amniotic fluid, birth weight, and one-and five-minute Apgar scores, were compared between the two groups. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in any of the outcome variables between patients with sonographically detected NC and controls. Conclusions: The presence of NC indicates a need for increased care but is not associated with adverse perinatal outcomes.