CCHD Screening

Pulse oximetry screening for Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) is now available for babies in Ontario. CCHD refers to conditions where a baby’s heart or major blood vessels around the heart have not formed properly. They are called critical because they require surgery or intervention in the first year of life to ensure healthy outcomes for the baby. Pulse oximetry screening can assist in the detection of these conditions before clinical deterioration. As is the case with all screening, early detection results in better outcomes.

Our goal is to support a quality, standardized program that provides access to CCHD screening for all Ontario babies. We will be collecting CCHD screening results [407.17 KB] for quality assurance and program evaluation.

If a patient presents symptomatically with CCHD that was not ascertained through pulse oximetry screening, we would request that you complete the following Symptomatic Diagnostic Report Form and fax it to Newborn Screening Ontario so that we can track the performance of the program and make any changes, if indicated. 

This section of our website includes various CCHD screening resources including screening tools, protocols, education support and more for hospitals and midwifery practice groups.

If you are having a hard time finding what you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact the NSO CCHD screening team at nsocchd@cheo.on.ca.