Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening

Office of Children With Special Health Care Needs

Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening

Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) Screening establishes a statewide universal screening in newborns using pulse oximetry.

Utah CCHD Screening

Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) affects the lives and families of approximately 10,000 babies born in the United States every year. While many of these babies may be identified by either a prenatal ultrasound or the newborn exam, some of these babies will appear perfectly healthy. To prevent serious morbidity and mortality resulting from missed or delayed diagnosis of CCHD, all newborns in Utah are required to be screened for CCHD using pulse oximetry which became effective October 1, 2014.

New CCHD screening guidelines

Recommendations for CCHD screening by pulse oximetry focus on screening healthy-appearing newborns in:

  • Newborn nurseries
  • Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or other settings AFTER the newborn has been weaned off supplemental oxygen
  • Settings outside of the hospital such as home births and birthing centers

Screening is completed when a newborn is at least 24 hours of age or as late as possible if the baby is to be discharged before 24 hours of age.
The following is the recommended algorithm, for newborn screening for critical congenital heart disease using pulse oximetry (Oster et al., 2024)

Referral Form following failed CCHD screen:

In the event of a Failed CCHD screen, a higher level of care may be needed. This form allows the screener to document and facilitate a referral for the newborn, and thus aids in communication between the screener, parents, and additional providers.

Screening Targets

Some specific types of CCHDs are listed below. Babies with CCHD need surgery or other procedures in the first year of life. Other heart defects can be just as severe as CCHDs and may also require treatment soon after birth.

  • Coarctation of the Aorta
  • Double Outlet Right Ventricle
  • Ebstein’s Anomaly
  • Interrupted Aortic Arch
  • Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
  • Pulmonary Atresia
  • Single Ventricle
  • Tetralogy of Fallot
  • Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return
  • Transposition of the Great Arteries
  • Tricuspid Atresia
  • Truncus Arteriosus

Contact the Utah CCHD Screening Program for:

  • General questions about pulse oximetry screening process or procedure
  • Training opportunities
  • Educational tools
  • Reporting CCHD screening results

Phone & Email:

Phone: (866) 818-7096
FAX: (801) 323-1578
Email: email [email protected]

Monday thru Friday — 8:00am to 5:00pm

Newborn Screening:

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Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI)

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Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD)

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Newborn Blood Spot