New era ahead for screening heart defects in babies

The latest devices to detect congenital heart conditions in newborns have been installed in hospitals across the UAE by the Ministry of Health and Prevention.

Nine hospitals will be equipped with the automated device that will link to the patient’s electronic file, leaving no chance of human error.

The technology, called Eve on Rad-97 Pulse Co-Oximeters from Masimo, is the world’s latest.

The device automatically screens newborns and detects if there is a defect. The file is then sent to the database and follow-up procedures taken. The programme was launched at the Sharjah Training and Development Centre by Dr Yousif Al Serkal, assistant undersecretary of the hospital sector, who said the aim was for all affected infants to receive appropriate testing, counselling and treatment.

While all hospitals in the UAE screen babies at birth for heart defects, the nine hospitals will be the ones in the UAE with such a comprehensive system linked to a single electronic database.

Dr Al Serkal said the programme is crucial for reducing infant mortality and morbidity rates in babies with heart malformations. It also aims to ease the financial, social and psychological burden on patients and their families.

He said the ministry proposes to set up a database of children with congenital heart defects and develop clinical performance indicators to monitor the progress of the programme.

The ministry will train nurses to use the new device and system. Educational bulletins will be distributed in the newborn delivery department to medical staff and parents, explaining the importance of screening.

The screening takes three minutes and is done before the babies leave hospital.

Global statistics show that congenital heart disease is a common birth defect, affecting approximately eight in 1,000 babies. Failure to detect critical congenital heart disease can lead to complications that can lead to death.