Development of clinical guideline for early detection of critical congenital heart diseases at birth by pulse oximetry

Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most common type of birth defects. The main screening tests used to identify babies with congenital heart defects include prenatal echocardiography and postnatal clinical assessment. Routine pulse oximetry has been reported as an additional screening test that can potentially improve the early diagnosis of critical congenital heart disease (CCHD).

This study is a multi-stage evolutionary study that was conducted for 12 months from March 2021 to March 2022 at Pediatric Cardiovascular Research Center in Cardiovascular Institute, Isfahan, Iran. In the first phase, after identifying the topic and aims of the present study, questions were designed through the PICO method including (population, intervention, control, and outcomes). Then conducting systematic searches, the quality of all existing clinical guidelines (CG) of this field were evaluated using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) instrument and a committee consisting of pediatric cardiologists and neonatologists in the field. Next, based on the opinions of experts, the quality of 1 out of 6 clinical guidelines for early detection of critical congenital heart disease at birth by pulse oximetry was assessed as optimal. Finally, the clinical guidelines draft was evaluated using the Delphi method and the panel of experts. After expert panel meetings and consensus between members, the final version of the guideline for early detection of critical congenital heart diseases at birth by pulse oximetry was developed.

In the present study, criteria of clinical practice regarding the stages of newborn screening by pulse oximetry at birth were determined based on the evidence and health conditions and were presented in twenty-eight recommendations and six sections. The final recommendations were presented in the results section.

The finding of the present study showed that physicians, nurses, and midwives can apply the recommendations of this clinical guideline for the early detection and referral of neonates with critical congenital heart disease.