Neonatal Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Defects

Abstract

"Critical congenital heart defects (CCHDs) are potentially life-threatening malformations that remain a significant cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Failure to diagnose these condition shortly after birth may result in acute cardiovascular collapse and death.

Identification of CCHDs by routine newborn clinical examination is routine in many countries, but consistently misses over a third, and, although antenatal ultrasound screening can be very effective in early diagnosis, the provision of ultrasound and accuracy of ultrasound screening is highly variable.

As most CCHDs present with mild cyanosis (hypoxaemia), which is frequently clinically undetectable, pulse oximetry is a rapid, simple, painless method of accurately identifying hypoxaemia, which has gained popularity as a screen for CCHD."