Background: Screening of all congenital heart malformations (CHD & CCHD) , as early as possible, is essentials to save children’s lives and, vanishing undetected CHD before becoming adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). As it is known, over 50% of neonates with heart malformations are not recognized at birth. Accurate screening of congenital heart malformations can be accomplished by a certified and patented passive intelligent machine known as Pouya Heart. The objective of this study is 2-fold: to evaluate true prevalence of neonates heart malformations and to evaluate screening of critical congenital heart diseases (CCHD) by the intelligent machine.
Methods: 840 neonates with a median age of 31.16 hours and a median weight of 3.11 Kg from the well-baby nursery have been screened by the passive intelligent machine. 20 seconds of heart sounds are recorded into the intelligent machine from two thoracic sites. Each neonate is then classified as normal or abnormal. Echocardiography diagnosis is carried out for verification of each abnormal case.
Results: The prevalence of heart malformations (CHD & CCHD), in our well-baby nursery, is 5%. Where, 44% of the heart malformations have not been recognized at birth through the standard medical examination routine.
Conclusions: Screening of congenital heart malformations, in all neonates, can be accomplished accurately and cost-effectively by using the Pouya Heart. It detects even CCHD in which it has not been detected through standard medical routine. The innocent murmurs are interpreted as healthy heart sounds.