PURPOSE: to analyze obstetrical and perinatal data in 26 cases of meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS). METHODS: a retrospective review was performed in 26 newborn records diagnosed with meconium aspiration syndrome. Patients were studied emphasizing average days in neonatal intensive care unit and main maternal findings and neonatal complications, correlating them with each other. RESULTS: Eighteen babies were delivered at GH-CSUF and eight out of this hospital. At this time 3,976 deliveries occurred at GH-CSUF, with an incidence of MAS of 0.45%. Nine of 18 babies were born by vaginal delivery; weight was >2,500 g in 16 cases. One-minute Apgar score was >7 in three cases (16.7%), between 4 and 6 in seven cases (38.9%), and between 0 and 3, in eight cases (44.4%). At 5 minutes, seven babies remained <7. Anoxia was the main neonatal complication (36%). The mortality rate was 7.7% and the average hospital stay was 19.9 days. CONCLUSION: MAS is a very important neonatal pathology correlated with high neonatal mortality rates, thick meconium in at least half of the cases, and with a majority of depressed newborns at delivery.
Meconium aspiration syndrome; Neonatal complications; Neonatal hypoxia
