Objective: Congenital heart defects are one of the most common congenital anomalies and delay in their diagnosis causes a significant increase in mortality and complications. The aim of this study was to determine the screening for congenital heart diseases using pulse oximetry in neonates born in hospitals of Golestan University of Medical Sciences.
Method: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 357 seemingly healthy infants born from September 2017 to June 2016 in Golestan University of Medical Sciences affiliated hospitals underwent right hand and foot pulse oximetry. If the oxygen saturation level is less than 94% in the baby's right hand and foot, it was checked again one hour later and if the result was repeated, the baby was referred to a specialist for further testing. Also, 3 months after pulse oximetry, neonates with positive results were followed up. Findings were divided into descriptive sections (mean, standard deviation and frequency distribution table) and inferential including multivariate regression analysis, and was considered at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: Out of 357 neonates, 341 had an oxygen saturation level above 94%, among 16 cases less than 94%, 14 cases had an oxygen saturation level above 94% and 2 cases had a saturation level of less than 94%. The results showed that two of the 357 samples had a positive result of 0.6%, which during the study and follow-up after 3 months, both infants had mild ASD. There was also a significant and direct relationship between maternal non-smoking (P <0.005), absence of maternal heart disease (P <0.005) and maternal family, no history of maternal abortion (P = 0.005) and number of abortions (P = 0.011), Absence of stillbirth (P <0.005) and number of stillbirths (P <0.005) and absence of serious diseases of diabetes, thyroid and hypertension and having other minor diseases (P <0.005) with neonatal oxygen saturation level.
Conclusions: According to the results of the present study, which showed a significant and direct relationship between maternal variables and neonatal blood oxygen saturation, accurate history and clinical examination along with pulse oximetry can be considered as an important tool to identify congenital heart disease in infants