Impaired validity of the new FIGO and Swedish CTG classification templates to identify fetal acidosis in the first stage of labor

Abstract

Introduction Cardiotocography (CTG) is the main method of intrapartum fetal surveillance. In 2015 a new guideline was introduced by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), FIGO-15. In Sweden it was adjusted to SWE-17, replacing the previous national template, SWE-09. This study, conducted at one university hospital and one regional hospital in southern Sweden, evaluated the diagnostic validity of these three templates to detect fetal acidosis during the first stage of labor. Material and methods A total of 73 neonates with pH <7.1 in umbilical cord artery or vein at cesarean delivery during the first stage of labor were identified retrospectively. For each acidotic neonate, three non-acidemic neonates, with a pH ≥7.2 in cord artery and vein, and Apgar scores ≥9 at five and ten minutes, in all 219 neonates, were selected. The CTG tracings before birth in acidemic neonates, and tracings at the same cervical dilatation in the non-acidemic neonates, were independently assessed by three professionals from the obstetric staff, blinded to group and clinical data. Based on their categorizations of the included variables (baseline, variability, accelerations, decelerations and contraction rate), each CTG tracing was systematically classified according to the three templates. The sensitivity and specificity to identify acidemia by the classification pathological were determined for each template. Interobserver agreement in the assessments of tracings as pathological or not was analyzed, using free-marginal Kappa index. Results The sensitivity for patterns classified as pathological to identify acidemia was similar for FIGO-15 (71%) and SWE-17 (77%, p = .13), and the specificity was 97% for both. SWE-09 had a significantly higher sensitivity (95%, p < .001) albeit with a lower specificity (90%, p < .001) than the other two templates. Among acidemic neonates, the fraction of tracings classified as normal was higher with SWE-17 (9.6%) than with SWE-09 (0%; p = .01) and FIGO-15 (1.4%; p = .06). For tracings from neonates with acidemia, agreement for three independent assessors was strong (κ 0.85) with SWE-09, and weak for FIGO-15 (κ 0.47), and SWE-17 (κ 0.51). For tracings from neonates without acidemia, the agreement was almost perfect for FIGO-15 (κ 0.91), strong withSWE-17 (κ 0.90) and moderate with SWE-09 (κ 0.78). Conclusions The ability of FIGO-15 and SWE-17 to identify fetal acidosis is considered insufficient. The combination of a high sensitivity and a high specificity makes SWE-09 the most discriminatory template during the first stage of labor.