If you notice below, under “common considerations in determining whether to screen for disorders”, congenital heart defects and pulse oximetry screening would apply to all 5 considerations. Also, further down, is a list state mandated screenings, including the secondary or expanded screenings, and their incidence rates. These diseases are more rare than CHD, which incidence… Continue Reading
Prenatal Information
September – National Baby Safety Month
Chloe is ten months and I’m already planning her one year birthday party! I’ve bought the invitations, the outfit and special birthday cake plate! But before I go any further, I need to redirect my focus to baby-proofing. I have already covered the outlets and moved the coffee table, but since Chloe is almost crawling,… Continue Reading
Tobacco Smoke Exposure Linked to CHD’s
Women who smoke or are exposed to tobacco smoke early in their pregnancies are more likely to have children with certain types of congenital heart defects. “The heart’s basic structures develop very early in pregnancy, before many women realize they are pregnant,” said Sadia Malik, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., the study’s lead author and an assistant professor… Continue Reading
Insight on Cardiac Assessment in Newborns
Congenital heart defects are not uncommon among neonatal patients. The prompt identification of a life-threatening anomaly is essential for rapid intervention and a positive treatment outcome. Cardiac defects may be identified in the newborn nursery with thorough and systematic physical assessment, including inspection, palpation, auscultation, and measurement of blood pressure and oxygen saturations. The ability… Continue Reading
Overview of Infant CPR
Unexpected death in a pediatric patient is usually due to trauma, sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory causes or near-drowning. Unintentional choking and suffocation are the leading cause of all injury death for infants under the age of 1. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, more commonly referred to as CPR, is an important life-saving procedure used by first responders.… Continue Reading
How an expectant mother’s nutrition affects fetus
Timeframe before conception may be linked to disease later in life. Mothers’ health in the days and weeks prior to becoming pregnant may determine the health of offspring much later in life, according to results of studies reported at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction. These studies demonstrate that maternal… Continue Reading
5 Innocent Heart Murmurs
Heart murmurs are common in the first days of life and do not usually signify structural heart problems. If a murmur is present at birth, however, it should be considered a valvular problem until proved otherwise because the common benign transitional murmurs (eg, patent ductus arteriosus) are not audible until minutes to hours after birth.… Continue Reading
Anti-depressants during pregnancy & CHD
Pregnant women who take antidepressants may have a slightly higher risk of delivering babies with rare birth defects. But the risks posed by the drugs are very small, according to two studies and an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine. Both studies examined SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a popular class of… Continue Reading
Topamax Drug May Raise Risk Of Birth Defects
The epilepsy and migraine prevention drug Topamax has been linked to an increased risk of birth defects in babies born to epilepsy patients who took it during pregnancy, a small study shows. In a study published in the latest issue of the journal Neurology, taking Topamax (topiramate) during pregnancy was associated with a birth defect… Continue Reading
Risk of Heart Defects with Maternal PKU Syndrome
Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive disorder of amino acid metabolism affecting approximately 1/10,000-15,000 infants in North America. It is most often due to deficiency of the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase which causes the accumulation of harmful metabolites, including phenylketones. If untreated, PKU leads to mental retardation, seizures, psychoses, eczema and a distinctive “mousy” odor. A… Continue Reading
