Introduction: Critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) in newborns has a worldwide prevalence of 1-2 per 1000 live births and often remain asymptomatic pre-discharge, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Screening depends on physical examination (PE) and pulse oximetry (PO) which is proposed as a novel method. Objective: Evaluate efficacy and suitability of PO as a screening strategy of CCHD compared to PE in the Sri Lankan setup. Method: A prospective study was conducted in 5435 asymptomatic newborns, period of amenorrhoea (POA) ≥34weeks, aged ≥24 hours, in Castle Street Hospital for Women, Colombo. Preductal and post-ductal oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurements in right hand (RH) and right foot (RF) along with PE were performed. Babies without SpO2 thresholds of ≥95% in RH and RF and ≤3% difference between RH and RF or with abnormal PE, underwent 2D echocardiogram. Results: Detection rate of CCHD by PO and PE were 91% and 82% respectively. Addition of PO screening to PE detected 02 missed cases. PO and PE sensitivities were 90.9% and 81.8% (p=0.54) and 100% in combination (p=0.8), and specificities were 99.9% and 98.2% respectively (p=0.37) and 98.1% in combination. Positive predictive value _________________________________________
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.