Cardiopulmonary resuscitation of apparently stillborn infants: survival and long-term outcome.

To determine the outcome of apparently stillborn infants who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, we studied the short- and long-term outcome of 93 infants who had an Apgar score of 0 at 1 minute of age and were resuscitated at birth. Sixty-two (66.6%) responded and left the delivery room alive; 26 (42%) of the 62 infants died in the neonatal period and 36 infants were discharged home; of the 36 infants, three subsequently died during infancy. Of the 33 survivors, ten were lost to follow-up after discharge. Developmental assessment of 23 of 33 long-term survivors revealed normal outcome in 14 (61.7%), abnormal results in 6 (26%), and suspect status in 3 (13%). Fifty-eight infants had an Apgar score of 0 at greater than or equal to 10 minutes of age and all except one died; the surviving infant has an abnormal developmental outcome. We conclude that 39% of apparently stillborn infants who were resuscitated survived beyond the neonatal period and that 61% of the 23 survivors who were available for developmental follow-up had normal development at the time of last examination. Survival was unlikely if there was no response after 10 minutes of resuscitation.