Pulse Oximetry Values in Newborns with Critical Congenital Heart Disease upon ICU Admission at Altitude

John S Kim; Merlin W Ariefdjohan; Marci K Sontag; Christopher M Rausch

doi:10.3390/ijns4040030

Pulse Oximetry Values in Newborns with Critical Congenital Heart Disease upon ICU Admission at Altitude

Int J Neonatal Screen. 2018 Oct 31;4(4):30. doi: 10.3390/ijns4040030. eCollection 2018 Dec.

Authors

John S Kim¹, Merlin W Ariefdjohan², Marci K Sontag^{2

3}, Christopher M Rausch¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Heart Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
² Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
³ Center for Public Health Innovation at CI International, Littleton, CO 80120, USA.

Abstract

Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) has been recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The objectives of this study are to describe saturation data, and to evaluate the effectiveness of AAP-recommended pulse oximetry screening guidelines applied retrospectively to a cohort of newborns with known CCHD at moderate altitude (5557 feet, Aurora, Colorado). Data related to seven critical congenital heart disease diagnoses were extracted from electronic health records (pulse oximetry, prostaglandin administration, and oxygen supplementation). Descriptive epidemiologic data were calculated. 158 subjects were included in this analysis; the AAP pulse oximetry screening protocol was applied to 149 subjects. Mean pre-ductal and post-ductal pulse oximetry values of the infants known to have CCHD at 24 h of life were 87.1% ± 7.2 and 87.8% ± 6.3, respectively. Infants treated with prostaglandins and oxygen had lower oximetry readings. The screening algorithm would have identified 80.5% of infants with known CCHDs (120/149 subjects). Additionally, sequential pulse oximetry screening based on the AAP-recommended protocol was able to identify a true positive screen capture rate of 80.5% at moderate altitude.

Keywords: altitude; critical congenital heart disease; newborn screening; pulse oximetry.