TY - JOUR AU1 - Davidson, S. AU2 - Reisner, S. H. AB - Abstract In Reply.—We thank Dr Jain for the comments on our article and for reraising the question of the correlation between Apgar score and neonatal asphyxia. We do agree that cord blood pH and base-deficit status at birth are better measurement tools than the Apgar score to indicate neonatal asphyxia.1 Unfortunately, in our study the cord blood gas measurements were available for only a small number of inborn infants and not for the whole group. As muscle tone and reflex irritability in low-birth-weight infants might be depressed simply because of neurologic immaturity, we have preferred to use the modified Apgar score2 that takes into account only three parameters of the original score (heart rate, respiration, and color). Thus, scores of 0, 1, or 2 were given, respectively, if respirations were absent, in gasps, or regular; if the heart rate was undetectable, less than 100 beats per minute, or References 1. Goldenberg RL, Huddleston JF, Nelson KG: Apgar scores and umbilical arterial pH in preterm newborn infants . Am J Obstet Gynecol 1984;149:651-654.Crossref 2. D'Souza SW, John RW, Richards B, et al: Fetal distress and birth scores in newborn infants . Arch Dis Child 1975;50:920-926.Crossref TI - Severe Perinatal Asphyxia and Apgar Scores-Reply JF - American Journal of Diseases of Children DO - 10.1001/archpedi.1987.04460120015014 DA - 1987-12-01 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/american-medical-association/severe-perinatal-asphyxia-and-apgar-scores-reply-2sfnJahQMd SP - 1253 EP - 1253 VL - 141 IS - 12 DP - DeepDyve ER -