AIPGMEE 2016 Pediatrics MCQs

1. The best description of the Apgar score is that it:

A.Accurately predicts who will develop cerebral palsy

B.Assesses newborn infants in need of resuscitation

C.Accurately predicts a low umbilical cord pH

D.Is unaffected by maternal opiate pain relief

E.Accurately predicts newborn infants who will die in the neonatal period

ANS.B

EXPLANTION:-

The Apgar score is a practical method of systematically assessing newborn infants immediately after birth. A low score may be due to fetal distress but may also be due to a number of factors, including prematurity and drugs given to the mother during labor. The Apgar score was not designed to predict neurologic outcome. Indeed, the score is normal in most patients in whom cerebral palsy subsequently develops, and the incidence of cerebral palsy is low in infants with Apgar scores of 0-3 at 5 min (but higher than in infants with Apgar scores of 7-10). Low Apgar scores and umbilical artery blood pH predict neonatal death. An Apgar score of 0-3 at 5 min is uncommon but is a better predictor of neonatal death (in both term and preterm infants) than an umbilical artery pH ≤ 7.0; the presence of both variables increases the relative risk of neonatal mortality in term and preterm infants. Infants who fail to initiate respiration should receive prompt resuscitation and close observation. (See Chapter 88, page 536.)

Ref:- Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics  19th edn