Neonatal pulse oximetry screening: a national survey

The newborn examination is a universally accepted method to screen for congenital heart disease (CHD); however, failure of detection has been estimated to be in excess of 25%.1 Antenatally, only 23.4% of CHD is diagnosed by obstetric ultrasound screening with variable diagnostic rates nationally.2 Recent studies have reported improved detection rates with the use of pulse oximetry (PO) and demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of such screening.3 4 We surveyed the practice of PO as a part of routine neonatal examination in hospitals …