Heart test 'saves babies' lives'

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The test that could spot heart defects in newborn babies

A study of 20,055 newborns, published in The Lancet, showed testing oxygen in the blood was more successful than other checks available.

The researchers have called for the oxygen test to be used in hospitals across the UK.

The British Heart Foundation said the test could "make a real difference" as cases go unnoticed.

Congenital heart defects - such as holes between chambers in the heart and valve defects - affect around one in every 145 babies.

They are detected by ultrasound during pregnancy or by listening to the heart after birth, however, the success rate is low.

Decades old

Doctors at six maternity hospitals in the UK used pulse oximeters - a piece of technology which has been around for 20 years - to detect levels of oxygen in the blood.

If the levels were too low, or varied between the hands and feet, more detailed examinations took place.

The test takes less than five minutes and it found 75% of the most serious abnormalities. In combination with traditional methods, 92% of cases were detected.

While some defects are inoperable, advances in surgery mean most can be corrected.