Cord blood interleukin -6 in full term non-infected neonates with perinatal asphyxia

This study aimed to determine the correlation of umbilical cord interleukin-6 levels in fullterm uninfected neonates with perinatal asphyxia, and the clinical presentation in the neonatal period .Also correlating IL-6 levels with the developmental outcome on follow up of these neonates till 12 months old.Perinatal asphyxia manifested by three out of five of the following events:1- Fetal distress (fetal bradycardia, fetal tachycardia, or late deceleration on cardiotocogram)2- Meconium stained amniotic fluid.3- Apgar score of 6 or less at 5 minutes.4- Need for resuscitation for more than one minute.5- Arterial blood PH value of less than 7.20.In our study we excluded cases with:1- Early neonatal sepsis (+ve CRP).2- Congenital malformations.3- Infants of mothers with fever, uterine tenderness, bad odor amniotic fluid or premature rupture of membranes more than 18 hours.4- Preterm infants less than 36 weeks.We had chosen our cases to form three groups, 20 for each. These groups were classified according to Sarnat and Sarnat classificationAlso the study included a control group of 30 neonates with no history of perinatal asphyxia and no neonatal sepsis, IL-6 was measured in the cord blood of these infants for the comparison with the asphyxiated neonates.