Maternal & Newborn Atlas
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Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease

A skin test that measures the level of oxygen in a newborn's blood and can tell whether the baby has a congenital heart defect. MedlinePlus lists it among the screening tests a newborn has before leaving the hospital.

Also called CCHD screening · Newborn heart screen

  • Intervention
  • In this atlas

Overview

Technical summary

Source: the MedlinePlus Newborn Screening topic (NLM). A 2011 strategy paper on implementing this screening was published in Pediatrics, an AAP journal; AAP-published content is identity-only in this atlas, so the paper is a reference only and its content is not recorded. No accuracy figures are recorded. The link to congenital heart disease rests on one MedlinePlus sentence (see the claim on this page).

About this intervention

Type
Test
Mechanism
Not reported

Claims and evidence

Context Newborn babies in general (MedlinePlus and NICHD health information)

Recipient
Newborn
Population
Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.
Care setting
Not stated in the source.
Geography
United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.
Life stage
Newborn period
Gestational age
Not reported
Postnatal age
Not reported
Follow-up
Not applicable: general health information.
Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; exclusion criteria not stated
Included
  • Newborn babies
Excluded
None stated

  • Description Evidence stage not applicable Certainty not assessed

    MedlinePlus includes, among the screening tests a newborn has, a skin test of the blood's oxygen level, and says its result can show whether the baby has a congenital heart defect.

    Applies to Newborn
    • Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.
    • Not stated in the source.
    • United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.
    • Newborn period
    • Gestational age Not reported
    • Postnatal age Not reported
    Follow-up Not applicable: general health information.
    Certainty method
    Not assessed
    Limitations
    Consumer health information, not a trial or an accuracy study: it gives no sensitivity, specificity or cut-off. The MedlinePlus text does not use the name pulse oximetry or the words critical congenital heart disease; the match to this record rests on the test it describes. The 2011 strategy paper on this screening is in Pediatrics, an AAP journal, so it is identity-only in this atlas and nothing from it is recorded.
    Last checked
    2026-10-14
    Next evidence check due
    Not scheduled
    Sources and citations (2)

    1. Supports Newborn Screening (MedlinePlus health topic)

      Webpage · MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine · Edition Health topic page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-medlineplus-newbornscreening.html). Only the summary text is used.

      Locator
      Summary, list item 3
      How it applies
      MedlinePlus lists the skin test among newborn screening tests.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      a0a9fa87987acdee782d566b48840d1a68724f592ce27654b780ea5065a6e3bc
      Reuse basis
      Summaries on MedlinePlus health topic pages are in the public domain, per the MedlinePlus page Linking to and Using Content from MedlinePlus (fetched 2026-10-14 as mh-medlineplus-usingcontent.html, sha256 31267ce9db016893b80c5665312d92ffc8c34ec86916f84708c353936ba52228). The page bytes are not committed. The credit line is Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Medical Encyclopedia articles (/ency/) and drug monographs are licensed content and are not used.

    2. Supports Newborn Screening (MedlinePlus health topic)

      Webpage · MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine · Edition Health topic page as fetched on 2026-10-14 (mh-medlineplus-newbornscreening.html). Only the summary text is used.

      Locator
      Summary, list item 3, sentence 2
      How it applies
      MedlinePlus says the test can tell if the baby has a congenital heart defect.
      Retrieved
      Source effective date
      Not reported
      Source state
      Current
      Snapshot hash
      a0a9fa87987acdee782d566b48840d1a68724f592ce27654b780ea5065a6e3bc
      Reuse basis
      Summaries on MedlinePlus health topic pages are in the public domain, per the MedlinePlus page Linking to and Using Content from MedlinePlus (fetched 2026-10-14 as mh-medlineplus-usingcontent.html, sha256 31267ce9db016893b80c5665312d92ffc8c34ec86916f84708c353936ba52228). The page bytes are not committed. The credit line is Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Medical Encyclopedia articles (/ency/) and drug monographs are licensed content and are not used.

Clinical links

Each link reports what one cited claim says about one population. "Evaluated for" means studied, not shown to work. These links do not show that anything is effective or right for you.

  • Claim, not a settled fact MedlinePlus: the skin oxygen test can show whether a baby has a congenital heart defect: Congenital heart disease (Evaluated for)

    Applies to Newborn
    • Newborn babies. The sources set no limits of gestational age, birth weight or setting.
    • Not stated in the source.
    • United States programmes are described by NICHD; MedlinePlus names no country.
    • Newborn period
    • Gestational age Not reported
    • Postnatal age Not reported
    Follow-up Not applicable: general health information.
    MedlinePlus includes, among the screening tests a newborn has, a skin test of the blood's oxygen level, and says its result can show whether the baby has a congenital heart defect.

    Limitations. Consumer health information, not a trial or an accuracy study: it gives no sensitivity, specificity or cut-off. The MedlinePlus text does not use the name pulse oximetry or the words critical congenital heart disease; the match to this record rests on the test it describes. The 2011 strategy paper on this screening is in Pediatrics, an AAP journal, so it is identity-only in this atlas and nothing from it is recorded.

Record details

Record id
maternal:pulse-oximetry-cchd-screening
Content hash
afd03496074adf8c8a311940694db1ee0b1440f613878e088619dc988d0102de