Significance of the transient bradycardic pattern in prepathological oxytocin stress test.

The perinatal prognostic significance of a type of Prepathological Oxytocin Stress Test, namely Transient Bradycardia coincident with a period of hyperdynamia in otherwise normal test, is analyzed. The 43 studied cases are compared to a group of 492 patients responding normally. The significantly higher incidence of intrapartum meconium and fetal distress, low Apgar Score and neurologically affected newborns seems to demonstrate that the Prepathological Test is a real entity. The possible fetal risk and the usefulness of the Oxytocin Test are discussed.