Correction of errors regarding neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

  Mistake 1: “ischemic-ischemic encephalopathy” is a conceptual mistake, although it only reverses hypoxia and ischemia, but the pathogenesis is diametrically opposed, which is a fundamental mistake. It is a fundamental error. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is the correct one, Error 2: Diagnostic error: Many diagnoses of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy are wrong, and it is very common to blindly expand the diagnostic criteria and diagnostic range. 90% of clinical diagnoses of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy are misdiagnosed. The reason is that the diagnostic criteria of this disease itself are very vague. There are hardly any cases that strictly follow the diagnostic criteria. For example, it is almost impossible to enforce the criterion “umbilical artery blood gas pH ≤ 7.00 at birth” (almost no hospitals in the country test this criterion at birth, including major hospitals in Beijing), and very few babies survive who meet this criterion. Here are the latest diagnostic criteria. There are many ambiguous elements in it.  Diagnostic criteria (a) A clear history of abnormal obstetrical conditions that can lead to intrauterine distress, and severe manifestations of intrauterine distress (fetal heart rate <100 beats for more than 5 minutes; and/or third degree contamination of amniotic fluid, or a history of significant asphyxia during delivery; (many such babies do not have HIE after proper resuscitation, do they need to meet all the criteria?)  (ii) severe asphyxia at birth, defined as an Apgar score of ≤ 3 at 1 minute that continues to be ≤ 5 at 5 minutes, and/or umbilical artery blood gas pH ≤ 7.00 at birth (do all conditions need to be met?). (c) Neurological symptoms present shortly after birth and persist for more than 24 hours, such as altered consciousness (hyperarousal, drowsiness, coma), altered muscle tone (increased or decreased), abnormal primitive reflexes (decreased or absent sucking and hugging reflexes), convulsions, brainstem signs (altered respiratory rhythm, altered pupils, dull or absent light response) and increased fontanelle tone. (Do all conditions need to be met? Do you have to wait until 24 hours to diagnose and treat a case with increased fontanelle tone? Do we have to have convulsions before we use sedatives?)  (iv) Exclude convulsions caused by electrolyte disturbances, intracranial hemorrhage not due to asphyxia and birth injuries, as well as brain damage caused by intrauterine infections, inherited metabolic diseases and other congenital disorders. (How can the above problems be determined in the first few hours of life?)  Chinese Journal of Pediatrics, 2005, No. 8 Error 3: Untimely treatment of asphyxia resuscitation. Due to the national conditions in China, 90% of Chinese hospitals' obstetrics and gynecology departments are not well equipped with excellent neonatal resuscitation monitoring equipment and personnel. Poor asphyxia resuscitation is widespread (although it has improved in recent years, the reality is still bad).  Mistake 4: The level of care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is poor. Again, it is the national situation in China, with overly loose and broad diagnoses and a variety of treatments. Many small and medium-sized cities do not have a decent NICU. Error 5: Obstetrics and gynecology are disconnected from the NICU. Due to the national situation, newborns with severe asphyxia in the obstetrics and gynecology departments of many hospitals cannot be transferred to the NICU within a short period of time, missing the time for resuscitation and aggravating their condition.  Mistake 6: "Wait until the clinical manifestations of the child appear before rescuing" is ridiculous, but many hospitals do so.  Mistake 7: "Treatment of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy depends on the late stage" There are various kinds of brain cell nutrition drugs, which make people headache. Or the diagnosis of the sequelae. This disease is a process. It ends with a relatively stable posterior period. Most have a diagnosis of cerebral palsy and some have a diagnosis of central coordination disorder.  Mistake 8: "No one recognizes that the key to this disease is a procedural problem, and that the process of formation of this disease is composed of many parts". Finally, improvement and solution of the problem need to be improved together with the country, economic status, governmental attention, transportation status, personal culture, health system, health education, etc. Among them, education of the people is also crucial.  One of the medical aspects is "prenatal examination; prenatal education; prenatal and intrapartum monitoring, delivery techniques, neonatal asphyxia resuscitation techniques, identification of high-risk neonates; specialized transport of critical neonates; proper treatment within the time window of NICU; evaluation of treatment outcome and prognosis diagnosis techniques; follow-up neurological evaluation; early rehabilitation intervention techniques. "  Social links: "Government attention, construction of a network for the transfer of critically ill newborns; construction of supporting equipment and technicians for obstetrics and gynecology related equipment: 'asphyxiation resuscitation equipment, technical training for newborn resuscitation screening doctors; supervision, evaluation of critically ill death cases'; construction of a municipal network center NICU. We have been able to treat many newborns with severe postnatal asphyxia and postnatal arterial blood gas 6.90 ≤ pH ≤ 7.20 by providing high quality treatment within the "time window" through specialized transport of critically ill newborns, connecting obstetrics and gynecology with NICU. There are no sequelae.