Critical heart defects--the diagnostic challenge.

UNLABELLED

Infants with potentially life threatening congenital heart defects (CHDs) are discharged from hospital after birth with the condition unrecognized. Improved prenatal ultrasound imaging and universal pulse oximetry screening of babies in nurseries are strategies that probably most would contribute to avoid such defects to be missed.

CONCLUSION

In general combining first day of life pulse oximetry, clinical examination and echocardiography before discharge in suspect cases is a rational strategy for early postnatal detection of heart defects. Universal echocardiography screening of newborns may be too resource consuming to be cost-effective.