Scholars in pediatrics and neonatology, we pay tribute to Doctor Virginia Apgar

This short article is a tribute to Doctor Virginia Apgar, one of the great unknown of Medicine. She contributed with her test for measuring vitality at birth to drastically reduce perinatal morbility and mortality. The Apgar test evaluates five aspects: heart rate, breathing effort, reflexes, muscle tone and skin color at one minute and five minutes after birth. Nowadays, the Apgar test is applied in labor protocols all over the world. A score <6 at the first minute of life implies the need for energetic resuscitation maneuvers. At 5 minutes of life, the Apgar index has prognostic value, and if the score is <7 indicates the possibility of neurological sequelae. The Apgar index is also used as a fetal distress marker. The paper ends by commenting on some data from the Area of Toledo, La Serena and Mérida studies, where members of our group have found negative correlation between the Apgar test score, serum glucose and Apolipoprotein B levels at birth. Future studies are needed to confirm the diagnostic value of this test for those marker alterations at birth.