Title: Newborn Screening for CCHD
Headings: ​​​Program to Enhance the Health & Development of Infants and Children (PEHDIC)​
​​​Program to Enhance the Health & Development of Infants and Children (PEHDIC)​
Newborn Screening: Critical Congenital Heart Defects
Answ​ers and Resources for Primary Care Pediatricians
Frequently Asked Questions
Topic 1: Rationale for CCHD Screening​
​​Topic 2: Implementation of CCHD​
​​​Topic 3: CCHD Screening Data Collection and Management​​​
​Topic 4: Screening in Special Settings​​​
​Ask a CCHD Implementation question​
Resources
State Implementation
References
Related AAP Policy Statements

Content: Because early infancy intervention is essential for babies with CCHD, adding CCHD to newborn screening is an important strategy to assure that all newborns are screened. Some states now mandate that all newborns be screened by pulse oximetry for CCHD as part of newborn screening. The role of state health departments in supporting CCHD screening adoption and monitoring of screening rates and outcomes varies. Unlike other current newborn screening tests, the health care team should assure diagnostic, and when necessary, treatment services are provided to those babies with a failed CCHD screen prior to discharge home. It is also important for health care providers in states that have adopted CCHD newborn screening to be aware of the specific requirements and recommendations for screening and the reporting of results. The AAP recommends that all newborns ​be screened for CCHD,​ regardless of whether they live in a state that includes CCHD screening within their newborn screening program. ​
If an asymptomatic infant fails their pulse-oximetry screening, what is the likelihood that CCHD or some other serious disease is present? In the Swedish study​ on which the recommended pulse-oximetry screening protocol is based, 25% of babies with a failed screen had CCHD, 47% had another disease process such as pulmonary pathology or sepsis, and 28% were well. Published data from New Jersey demonstrates that in asymptomatic babies with a failed CCHD screen, 10% had CCHD, 23% had another disease process causing hypoxemia, and 67% had non-critical congenital heart defect or were well. The differences between these two studies may be in part related to age at screening and a much higher prenatal detection rate of CCHD in New Jersey than in Sweden.