Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) Screening

CCHD requires prompt diagnosis and treatment for the best outcome. Babies with undetected critical congenital heart defects are at risk for death or significant disability.

An electronic surveillance program called We-Trac has been developed to assure timely follow-up testing for those babies that fail pulse oximetry screening for CCHD. The We-Trac database is populated by the collection of pulse oximetry results on the newborn screening blood collection card.

The results are entered into the newborn screening database at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and then transferred to the We-Trac database, where Wisconsin Department of Health Services staff can access the data.

Hospital staff can also access We-Trac to check on babies born in their institutions to assure that the testing has been completed, or the status of follow-up testing for those babies that initially failed their pulse oximetry screening for CCHD.

Below are a number of key issues regarding CCHD screening in Wisconsin:

• CCHD screening is done in the hospital before discharge.
• The screening results are recorded on the newborn screening blood collection form (yellow shaded area).
• The recording/reporting of pulse oximetry results must NOT delay the blood collection and/or sending of the blood specimen to the State Laboratory of Hygiene.
• For those babies that have pulse oximetry testing after the blood sample is taken, use the We-Trac queue to submit CCHD results.
• Tips for completing the pulse oximetry portion of the newborn screening blood collection form:
  • Always record screening date and time.
  • Record PASS or FAIL
  • If the baby is not screened, be sure to record the proper reason for not completing the screening.

For more information related to the Wisconsin CCHD Screening Program, visit their website: Newborn Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening Program | Wisconsin Department of Health Services