Simple Device Helps Detect Baby Heart Defects

Experts are calling for a simple piece of equipment that has been in most hospitals for years to be used on all newborn babies to help detect life-threatening heart defects.

A major trial conducted in British hospitals has discovered that using pulse oximeters, a device which measures blood oxygen levels, dramatically increases the chance of identifying major heart faults.

The simple, pain-free test has a detection rate of 92% when combined with traditional baby checks.

Every year in Britain more than 5,000 babies are born with heart defects and, in the developed world, they are one of the leading causes of infant deaths.

Lead investigator Dr Andrew Ewer, from the University of Birmingham , told Sky News: "In the Birmingham Women's Hospital, it's routine for babies to go home when they're six hours or even four hours of age.

"At that time, often the signs of congenital heart defects are not apparent even after careful examination.

"This test will identify babies who have got a problem before they go home, so that they don't become unwell at home - we can then initiate treatment straight away."

The pulse oximetry test was trialled for nearly a year in six UK maternity units. More than 20,000 apparently healthy babies were tested.

The new method detected 75% of critical cases and 49% of all major congenital heart defects.

When pulse oximetry was combined with routine ultrasound checks and a physical examination, 92% of defects were discovered and, crucially, no babies died from undiagnosed heart disease.

During the trial, 53 cases of major congenital heart disease were detected - 18 of them were identified by pulse oximetry but had not been picked up by ultrasound.

Doctors at the Birmingham Women's Hospital were so convinced by the results, they carried on doing the blood oxygen tests even after the study ended.

New mum Esther Ullah told Sky she was glad her two-day-old daughter Athena was tested.

She said: "It's pain free for the baby, it doesn't take very long and, obviously, it picks up any abnormalities in the heart, which is something you'd obviously want to know if it was there."

The blood oxygen test uses a sensor placed on the baby's hand and foot, and it helps to detect more congenital heart defects than any other procedures currently being used.

This is not the first time pulse oximeters have been trialled to increase heart defect detection rates but unlike the latest research, previous studies were on a relatively small scale.

As pulse oximeters have been in use for some time and they are not expensive, experts say they are convinced the device makes a real difference when detecting life-threatening conditions.

The NHS is studying the latest results before deciding whether to recommend routine use of blood oxygen tests on all newborn babies in the UK.