Comparative study of pulse oximetry, physical examination and echocardiography results in the diagnosis of congenital heart defects in neonates in the first 24 hours of life

Introduction: Congenital heart disease is the most common congenital anomaly. About 50% of Neonates with congenital heart disease are asymptomatic in the first few days of life and are not diagnosed on initial examination. Pulse oximetry is a non-invasive method that can show the percentage of oxygen saturation in the blood and congenital heart disease. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study and the sampling method was census. Echocardiography was performed for all neonates with spo2 less than 95% and also neonates who were diagnosed with a problem by a cardiologist. After collecting the samples, the results obtained from pulse oximetry, physical examination and echocardiography were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 and statistical tests of Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality and Spearman correlation. Was investigated. Results: In pulse oximetry evaluation, 1.9% of neonates had spo2 (arterial oxygen saturation) less than 95%. 1.7% of neonates had heart problems in physical examination and 2.12% of neonates had heart problems in echocardiography. The highest correlation between pulse oximetry and echocardiography was 0.917. Conclusion: Considering the diagnostic importance of congenital heart diseases and their impact on a personchr('39')s life, it is recommended that pulse oximetry be added to physical examinations at birth as a screening method for heart disease.