Fetal heart rate characteristics were assessed by labor and delivery nurses, and categories were assigned by computer using definitions from the

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The duration of time in each category was calculated and correlated with newborn outcome.

RESULTS: Forty-eight thousand four hundred forty-four patients were identified. Considering all of labor, category I was present 77.9% of the time, category II was present 22.1% of the time, and category III was present 0.004% of the time. In the last 2 hours before delivery, category I decreased to 60.9% of the duration, category II increased to 39.1%, and category III increased to 0.006%. Newborns of women whose last 2 hours were exclusively category I did well; only 0.6% had 5-minute Apgar Z-VAD-FMK scores less than 7, and 0.2% had low Apgar scores with neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission. When more than 75% of the last 2 hours was category II, low 5-minute Apgar score increased to 1.3% of patients, and low 5-minute Apgar score

with NICU admission increased to 0.7% ( both P < .001).

CONCLUSION: Category I and category II fetal heart rate patterns are common in labor, and category III patterns are rare. Increasing time in category II in the last 2 hours of labor is associated with increased short-term AZD6738 newborn morbidity. (Obstet Gynecol AZD6244 mw 2011;118:803-8) DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e31822f1b50″
“Objectives: To describe a method using confidence intervals (CIs) to estimate the sample size for a pilot randomized trial.

Study Design: Using one-sided CIs and the estimated effect size that would be sought in a large trial, we calculated the sample size needed for pilot trials.

Results: Using an 80% one-sided CI, we estimated that a pilot trial should have at least 9% of the sample size of the main planned trial.

Conclusion: Using the estimated effect size

difference for the main trial and using a one-sided CI, this allows us to calculate a sample size for a pilot trial, which will make its results more useful than at present. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“Objective: To determine the maximum time-dependent stability of 22 analytes requested frequently for add-on testing in heparinized plasma samples stored at refrigerator temperature for up to 4 days and to compare the values for the maximum time-dependent stability (T-max) of each analyte against previously published values.

Methods: We quantified the plasma concentration of 22 chemistry analytes in patients’ plasma samples stored at refrigerator temperature for up to 24 hours (study 1, n = 40) or 4 days (study 2, n = 39). All analyte measurements were performed using the Siemens Dimension Vista 1500 chemistry analyzer. The maximum storage time over which an analyte was considered stable was defined as the latest time point at which 95.