Newborn heart screening ‘could save lives’

A new study has recommended that conducting a brief blood test on newborn babies could aid the detection of heart disease and save lives.

The introduction of a pulse oximetry screening procedure – lasting around five minutes – could improve the detection of critical congenital heart disease, according to research published on bmj.com today.

Pulse oximetry screening is a fast and non-invasive procedure to measure the concentration of oxygen in the blood of newborns using a sensor placed on a hand, and in this study on a foot as well, for a few minutes before the baby leaves hospital.

A low concentration of oxygen could signal a heart problem and would require further investigation.

Professor Ostman-Smith and colleagues at the Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital and Sahlgrenska Academy of Gothenburg University in Sweden screened nearly 40,000 babies born between July 1st 2004 and March 31st 2007.

“Such screening seems cost neutral in the short term, but the probable prevention of neurological morbidity and reduced need for preoperative neonatal intensive care suggest that such screening will be cost effective long-term,” the authors write.

In an accompanying editorial, Professor Keith Barrington of the University of Montreal in Canada says that in light the study’s finding of the efficacy of pulse oximetry screening, “serious consideration should be given to its introduction wherever neonatal cardiac surgery is available”.