States should screen newborns for heart defects, Sebelius says

Newborns should be screened for critical congenital heart disease, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday in a letter to the Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children.

The recommendation brings the number of newborn disorders targeted for screening to 31.

Sebelius had already indicated support for widespread use of the painless, noninvasive test, which measures oxygen in the blood. Low oxygen levels signal the need for further testing to look for a heart-related problem. Last month, a federal advisory panel recommended that newborns nationwide receive the test.

Congenital heart disease involves defects of the walls, valves, arteries or veins of the heart and occurs in seven to nine of every 1,000 live births in the United States. About a quarter of those babies have a critical illness.

“Heart defects are the most common birth defect in the U.S., and routine pulse oximetry to measure oxygen levels can successfully identify newborns with critical cyanotic congenital heart disease, a life-threatening condition, before the babies die suddenly or even begin to show symptoms,” Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes in a statement Thursday supporting the addition of the screening test.

Questions remain about the best way to advise nationwide screening, including, Sebelius said, how state health departments will implement the test and how to ensure that all babies are screened and the results forwarded to their doctors.

It will be up to individual states to act on the recommendation. Some states already have implemented programs. New Jersey and Maryland recently passed laws requiring pulse oximetry screening, and similar bills are being considered in other states.

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