Day 3 - Pulse Oximetry Screening

Did you know?

1.  "One study demonstrated that for every 700,000 live births, there will be 4,500 infants with CHD, 25% of these children will leave the hospital without a diagnosis, and roughly 30 infants will die from CHD before any cardiac diagnosis is made." (Wren, C., Reinhardt Z, Khawaja, K, “Twenty year trends in diagnosis of life-threatening neonatal cardiovascular malformations.”  Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed., 2008 Jan 93(1):F33-5)

2.  "Newborn screening using pulse oximetry can identify some infants with a CCHD [critical congenital heart defect] before they show signs of a CCHD. Once identified, babies with a CCHD can be seen by cardiologists and can receive specialized care and treatment that can prevent disability and death early in life." (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pediatricgenetics/cchdscreening.html)

3.  Pulse oximetry (PulseOx) screening is not able to detect all heart defects, but is likely to detect seven critical congenital heart defects (CCHD).  CCHDs are heart defects that usually require surgery or catheter intervention in the first year of life.  (http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pediatricgenetics/cchdscreening.html)

4.  You can read my personal thoughts on PulseOx screening here:  http://joyemullis.blogspot.com/2012/12/pushing-for-pulse-ox.html

Take action!

1.  Contact your lawmakers! [As of May 2013, screening for CCHDs using pulse oximetry is now LAW in North Carolina.]  Use this map to see the status of your state: http://cchdscreeningmap.org/

2.  If you're pregnant, initiate a conversation with your OB about having your baby screened with pulse oximetry 24-48 hours after his/her birth.  

Tomorrow's topic: Blood Donation

Previous topics for CHD Awareness Week - 2013:

Day 1 - Introduction

Day 2 - Prevalence and Diagnosis