Assessment of Current Practices and Feasibility of Routine Screening for Critical Congenital Heart Defects - Georgia, 2012

• Published in: MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Vol. 62; no. 15; p. 288
• Main Authors: Clark, Pamela, Pringle, Johanna, Simeone, Regina M, Gilboa, Suzanne M, Honein, Margaret A, Oster, Matthew, Ailes, Elizabeth C
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Atlanta U.S. Center for Disease Control 19-04-2013
• Subjects: Birth defects; Congenital diseases; Heart; Hospitals; Medical screening; Newborn babies; Public health; United States > US; Georgia
• ISSN: 0149-2195; 1545-861X

In September 2011, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services recommended that critical congenital heart defects (CCHD) be added to the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP) for newborns. Anecdotal reports in early 2012 suggested that some Georgia hospitals had begun screening for CCHD using pulse oximetry. To better understand the prevalence of routine CCHD screening, specific practices among screening hospitals, and barriers to screening among all birthing hospitals in the state, CDC and the Georgia Department of Public Health conducted two surveys of Georgia hospitals in June 2012. Clark et al detail the results of the surveys, which indicated that only third of screening hospitals followed the CCHD screening protocol endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics; the remaining hospitals screened at different times or had different criteria for a positive screen. A CDC editorial note is presented.