Mohammad Eltahlawi, Alaa Elghamrawy, Maiy Hamdy Elsayed, Mona Hafez, Asmaa Elmesiry, Mohamed Bayomy, Hani Adel, Mahmoud Elfayoumy, Sahbaa Hafez, Said Morsy, Mahmoud Elhady, Baher Nashy, Mohamed Abo Elela
Zagazig University. Ministry of Health. Ain Shams University. Mansoura University. Tanta University. Alazhar University. Alexandria University. Benha University. Assuit University.
Egypt
Cardiology in the Young
Cardiol Young 2025;
DOI: 10.1017/S1047951125000289
Abstract
Background: Congenital heart Disease (CHD) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Pulse-oximetry is a good non-invasive simple tool for critical CHD screening. Implications of this tool may be possible in certain areas and non-practical in others. We aim to report on the preliminary results of a recent ongoing protocol concerning the use of pulse-oximetry in detecting critical CHD in newborn in Egypt.
Patients & methods: All neonates born in or transferred to 10 university hospitals during the period between February and November 2023 and fulfilled the criteria of inclusion were screened for critical CHD by pulse-oximetry using Granelli protocol in the first 24-72 hours after birth.
Results: During a 10-month pilot period, a total of 2392 neonates were screened. A total of 549 neonates (23%) tested positive (failed) screening. Among the positive cases, 213 neonates (42%) died during their hospital stay, while the remaining were discharged or scheduled for intervention. The positive cases underwent echocardiography that revealed CHD in the majority of cases (80.3%). Only 40 cases of those cases had cardiac defects that are classified as critical CHD with a prevalence of 16.7 per 1000 live births, while the rest of the cases have either simple (non-critical CHD) or persistent pulmonary hypertension. About 19.7% of positive cases have completely free echocardiograms without cardiac defects.
Conclusion: The prevalence of critical CHD in Egypt is higher than the mean worldwide prevalence. The introduction of pulse-oximetry as a mass screening tool for critical CHD is possible and effective in low-income countries.
Category
Class I. Persistent Pulmonary Hypertension of the Newborn
Diagnostic Testing for Pulmonary Vascular Disease. Non-invasive Testing
Age Focus: Pediatric Pulmonary Vascular Disease
Fresh or Filed Publication: Fresh (PHresh). Less than 1-2 years since publication
Article Access
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