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Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease in neonatal intensive care units

Journal of Perinatology volume 33, pages 586–588 (2013)Cite this article

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Recently, routine screening of newborn babies in the normal newborn nursery (low-risk infants ⩾35 weeks gestation) has been recommended by authoritative bodies,1 experts,2 and the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States,3 and mandated by law in several US states.1 The American Academy of Pediatrics has endorsed this screening as well.4 Screening is recommended in well-newborn nurseries as well as in intermediate-care nurseries or other units in which discharge is common in the first week of life. Screening is designed to identify infants with one of the following seven conditions: hypoplastic left heart syndrome, pulmonary atresia, tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of great vessels, truncus arteriosus, tricuspid atresia and total anomalous pulmonary venous return. Screening consists of a ‘spot-check’ pulse oximetry reading obtained in the right upper limb and one obtained from a leg.

Three types of positive screens (screening ‘failures’) are possible that lead to further investigation for the presence of critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) by careful evaluation of the infant for causes of hypoxia and possible echocardiography:1

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  1. The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA

    G K Suresh

  2. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA

    G K Suresh

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Correspondence to G K Suresh.

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Suresh, G. Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease in neonatal intensive care units. J Perinatol 33, 586–588 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2012.161

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