Screening Newborns with Pulse Oximetry Can Save LivesPOSTED: July 15, 2010 at 3:57 pm BY: Administrator |
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Dangerous heart defects are usually about the last thing on a new parent’s mind when they are bringing their newborn home from the hospital. As long as the baby looks healthy, they are only too happy to check out of the hospital and bring their new bundle of joy home. However, critical congenital heart defects (CHD) that are not diagnosed soon after birth can cause serious problems after babies go home – even death. And heart problems are not as rare as most people think. Heart defects are one of the most common types of birth defects, and about 1 out of every 125 babies is born with a congenital heart defect.
Fortunately, many heart defects are treatable and babies born with these heart defects can go on to lead active, productive lives. But a baby can’t receive treatment unless someone realizes there is a heart defect present. It is estimated that hundreds of American babies die each year because they were born with heart defects that were treatable, but unfortunately were not detected in time. When a newborn is seen by a pediatrician before being discharged from the hospital, the doctor will listen to the baby’s heart with a stethoscope to make sure the heart sounds like it is working properly. This method can pick up on some heart defects, but unfortunately it does not pick up on everything. Babies need further evaluation to detect the presence of other types of heart defects. However, additional screening for heart defects is not usually done in most hospitals.
Why aren’t all babies being screened for heart defects so they can receive the appropriate treatment? You might think it is difficult or expensive to screen newborns for heart defects, which explains why it is not being done in most cases. But the truth is, screening newborns for heart defects is fast, easy, cheap, non-invasive, and only requires standard equipment that is already available in every hospital!
All it takes to detect many of these heart defects is to use pulse oximetry to measure the amount of oxygen in the baby’s blood. A pulse oximeter is a small monitor that can be strapped to a newborn’s foot and beam light through the foot to determine the level of oxygen saturation in the blood. It doesn’t hurt the baby, and it only takes about a minute. Pulse oximeters are essential pieces of medical equipment that are used regularly to monitor patients. New advancements in pulse oximetry technology have lead to even more accurate and easy to use monitors, like the Nellcor N-65 OxiMax Pulse Oximeter. The Nellcor N65 is a convenient handheld device that can monitor oxygen saturation and pulse rates. It uses the latest digital signal processing technology to provide more accurate readings over a wider range of measurements, and it’s even resistant to signal interference. If hospitals were to use pulse oximeters like the Nellcor N65 to screen newborns for heart defects, they would be assured of the most reliable results, and the testing itself would be fast and simple to perform.
Research studies have proven that pulse oximetry is an effective way to catch most congenital heart defects. On July 6, 2009, the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement reviewing the current research. They conclude that using it to screen newborns is effective, low-cost, and safe. Based on their conclusion it seems obvious that pulse oximetry is something that should be recommended for all newborns, but these organizations stop short of actually saying pulse oximetry should be used to screen all babies. Instead, they recommend more research before they will decide whether this should become standard of care.
However, as Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, a pediatric cardiologist, explains in a New York Times blog, parents don’t have to wait for this life-saving test to be accepted as the standard. Parents can simply ask a nurse or doctor to use pulse oximetry to screen their newborn for heart defects before leaving the hospital. The ideal time to use pulse oximetry is after 24 hours of life but before being discharged from the hospital. The test should not cost anything since the hospital already has the equipment.
What parent wouldn’t want the assurance of this simple test?
