ABSTRACT
Perinatal spinal cord injury is a relatively uncommon, but a frequently misdiagnosed disorder. Improvements in obstetric care have certainly led to a decrease in the incidence of birth related spinal cord trauma but unfortunately the incidence of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is still very high. The exact incidence of spinal cord trauma is difficult to determine because the spinal cord is not routinely examined in far and few neonatal autopsies done in India. Here, authors present a neonate who received treatment for birth asphyxia and then had extubation failure which made the clock tick towards cervical cord injury. This baby had a hemorrhagic contusion of cervical spinal cord.
Subject(s)
Asphyxia Neonatorum , Cervical Cord , Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain , Spinal Cord Injuries , Infant, Newborn , Pregnancy , Female , Humans , Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain/complications , Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain/diagnosis , Cervical Cord/diagnostic imaging , Spinal Cord Injuries/complications , Spinal Cord Injuries/diagnosis , Asphyxia Neonatorum/complications , IncidenceABSTRACT
Cardiac tamponade is a clinical emergency. Detection of a swinging heart rate is one of the earliest markers of large pericardial effusion, in which the four cardiac chambers are free to float in a phasic manner. We present a case of a preterm baby, one of the twins, who developed sudden onset of deterioration in the form of swinging heart rate, fluctuation in blood pressure and desaturation, requiring emergency intubation and inotropic support. Bedside functional echo was performed, which demonstrated cardiac tamponade; an immediate echocardiography-guided tap was initiated and fluid was aspirated from the pericardial space.
