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From the New York Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention
Efforts to find and treat heart defects have improved in the past 15 years, but
many infants still die each year from these defects. Researchers in New York
looked at the usefulness of a screening test to find heart defects in newborns.
- Some heart defects are not found in the first few days after birth, but they
may become life threatening as the baby adjusts to life outside the womb.
- Many newborns go home within 48 hours. If signs of a heart defect appear a few
days after birth, many of these babies will already be at home and their
symptoms might not be noticed.
- One study found that 1 in 10 babies with a heart defect who died in the first
year was not diagnosed before death. This rate rises to 1 in 4 for babies who
died in the first week of life.
- A test, called pulse oximetry, might be used to screen newborns to find heart
problems before they become life threatening. This simple test checks the amount
of oxygen in the baby's body. Normal-term infants have oxygen levels within a
narrow range. Babies with some types of heart defects have lower oxygen levels.
This test might be used to quickly find infants with undiagnosed heart defects.
- The New York researchers studied the usefulness of the test. They screened
11,281 newborns and found 3 with a serious heart defect who did not have
symptoms.
- Of the infants who screened positive, 75% had a heart defect. Nearly all of
the babies who screened negative did not have a heart defect.
- These are promising results, and more study of this screening test is needed.
If heart defects can be found early enough, treatment can begin earlier and
possibly reduce the death rate.
Source: Koppel RI, Druschel CM, Carter T, Goldberg BE, Mehta PN,
Talwar R, et al. Effectiveness of pulse oximetry screening for
congenital heart disease in asymptomatic newborns. Pediatrics
2003;111(3):451–5.
[Back to New York Center information]
Date:
January 03, 2008
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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