Evaluation of Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening Results with Pulse Oximetry

Introduction: The early diagnosis and treatment of critical congenital heart diseases (CCHD), which require surgery or intervention during the 1st year of life, is an important issue. Screening of CCHD with pulse oximetry increases early diagnosis rates. Therefore, our study aimed to evaluate the results of CCHD screening with pulse oximetry among babies born in our hospital. Methods: The results of the CCHD screening with pulse oximetry of the babies with a gestational age of >= 34 weeks that were born in our hospital between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2020, were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Among the 14,766 babies born during the study period, the screening results of 11,892 babies were evaluated; 5,826 of whom were female (48.9%), and 6,066 (51.1%) were male. The number of babies who passed the screening test was 11,871 (99.8%), whereas 21 (0.2%) failed. Among 21 babies who failed the screening test and were evaluated by echocardiography, 7 (33.3%) babies were found to have CCHD. Preductal and postductal saturation values were found to be significantly lower in patients with the positive screening test and in whom CCHD was detected, compared with those without CCHD. Conclusion: Early diagnosis of CCHD before discharge is possible with pulse oximetry screening. Better prognosis and lower mortality rates are targeted with early diagnosis in these babies. Therefore, arrangements should be made for the screening of all newborn babies with pulse oximetry.