Title: Corience: Pulse oximetry as tool to detect critical congenital heart defects
Headings: Pulse oximetry as tool to detect critical congenital heart defects
Pulse oximetry as tool to detect critical congenital heart defects
Critical congenital heart disease
Hypoxemia as common feature
Pulse oximetry to detect hypoxemia in newborn infants
Open questions and problems
Recommendations and Conclusions of AHA and AAP

Content: Hypoxemia as common feature
In the neonatal period, most forms of congenital heart defects are associated with hypoxemia. This means that there is not sufficient oxygen in the arterial blood. However, this condition does not always lead to visible cyanosis in the first days of life, which is why it often goes unnoticed. Pulse oximetry to detect hypoxemia in newborn infants
Pulse oximetry seems to be an appropriate solution for this dilemma, at least in the majority of cases. It is a non-invasive method of determining the oxygen saturation and has the potential to detect also those cases of hypoxemia where no cyanosis is present or visible. This tool is already in routine use in neonatal intensive care units or emergency departments. There have already been several smaller studies on this aspect, and it is now suggested that it is used routinely for the assessment of newborn children as well. Open questions and problems
When it comes to using pulse oximetry routinely for newborn assessment, some matters still have to be clarified. For example, a point in time has to be defined when this examination should be performed. According to AHA and AAP, measurements are ideally made soon after the first 24 hours of life because there are considerable variations in oxygen saturation before that.