Objective: To ascertain if a dye-determined amniotic fluid volume was predictive of intrapartum and perinatal outcome.
Materials and methods: The low and normal amniotic fluid volumes (< 5th percentile and > or =5th percentile for gestational age) and the raw dye-determined amniotic fluid distributions were correlated with 10 clinical outcome measures in 74 pregnancies.
Results: In this observational study, median gestational age at delivery was 36 weeks (range 26 to 41) and 16 deliveries were for fetal distress (14 Cesarean and two forceps). There were no differences between the outcomes of pregnancies with low and normal amniotic fluid volumes for any of the clinical outcomes (variable decelerations influencing delivery, p=0.381; late decelerations, p=0.875; Cesarean births for fetal intolerance of labor, p=0.259; intrauterine growth restriction, p=0.998; or umbilical cord arterial pH< 7.2, p=0.259). Analogous results were obtained when the gestational age-adjusted amniotic fluid volumes were compared directly between the pregnancies with normal and abnormal outcomes. There was no difference between the mean amniotic fluid volumes in those pregnancies with variable decelerations influencing delivery (p=0.287), late decelerations (p=0.555), Cesarean births for fetal intolerance of labor (p=0.310), intrauterine growth restriction (p=0.267) or umbilical cord arterial pH< 7.2, and the pregnancies without these intrapartum events. Reduced variability was more commonly observed in pregnancies with higher amniotic fluid volumes (p=0.038, 771 ml, 95% CI 468 to 1269, compared to those without normal variability 444 ml, 95% CI 374 to 526).
Conclusions: Dye-determined amniotic fluid volume does not appear to be predictive of adverse intrapartum and neonatal outcome.