[The significance of gestational age in evaluating the antepartal cardiotokogram (author's transl)].

The influence of gestational age on the probable meaning of features in the antepartal CTG which are not clearly pathological was investigated in 232 births in 1973/74. The umbilical artery pH was significantly lower among premature infants exhibiting abnormal, than among those exhibiting normal CTG patterns. No similar difference was found in term or overdue births. The clinical diagnosis of neonatal condition using the Apgar scheme confirmed biochemical findings: The frequency of depressed babies is in turn clearly higher in cases with abnormal antepartal CTG patterns. It is assumed that the reason for this is the higher sensitivity of premature babies to haemodynamic disturbances. Thus, it follows that premature babies exhibiting antepartal patterns which are not completely normal require close observation.