Oxygen Saturation Screening Test: A Useful Method for Predicting Complex Congenital Heart Disease in Newborns

Critical congenital heart diseases (CCHDs) are the most common group of congenital malformations in newborns, the mortality and morbidity of which may be prevented by early diagnosis. As a simple and noninvasive technique in detecting hypoxemia, pulse oximetry can help us in the early diagnosis of complex congenital heart diseases. This study aims to provide information for future clinical and health policy decisions for making a Uniform Screening Panel in the early detection of CCHDs in newborns. In this study, we determine the prevalence of congenital heart disease in newborns with Oxygen Saturation in the Maternity ward of Imam-Reza Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. This is a prospective clinical study which was conducted in the Maternity ward of Imam-Reza hospital between March 2018 and March 2019. We recorded Spo2 of the newborns between 4 to 24 hours after delivery by a trained general practitioner using RS232C/NOVAMETRIX Pulse Oximetry device. The newborn also underwent a comprehensive clinical examination by a neonatologist, and further cardiological evaluation was performed afterward. A pediatric cardiologist performed Echocardiography for the final diagnosis if there was no evidence of other non-cardiac pathologies. Statistical analysis of data was done by SPSS version 24. Out of a total of 418 newborns screened by a pulse oximetry device, four newborns were screen-positive, and had pulse oximetry tests with Spo2 results. Two of these patients were reported to have complex congenital heart diseases, subsequently. The remaining two newborns with positive screening tests had no congenital heart disease in echocardiography evaluation. This study revealed that a pulse oximetry screening test could be beneficial for detecting many of the newborns with CCHDs before hospital discharge. However, further research studies with larger sample sizes are necessary for a definitive result.