Publication:

True umbilical cord knots are not always knotty: a case report

A true umbilical cord knot (TUCK) is a rare event, complicating 0.3-1.3% of all pregnancies. Prenatal diagnosis is not usual, as it is mostly discovered at delivery, when the knot is identified. True cord knots are mostly asymptomatic, but can be associated with adverse perinatal outcomes such as birth asphyxia and foetal demise, owing to compression of the umbilical vessels within the knot. This compression, however, is largely dependent on how tightly the knot is formed. We report a 30-year-old booked gravida 2, para 1, with a living child, who had spontaneous vaginal delivery of a healthy male baby at term, with incidental finding of a single loose TUCK at delivery. The umbilical cord was 81 cm long. The baby weighed 3600 g at birth, with 1- and 5-minutes Apgar scores of 9 and 10 respectively, and no adverse perinatal occurrence.