The small heart test is one of the tests that are performed on babies born with a gestational age greater than 34 weeks and is always performed in maternity, between the first 24 to 48 hours after birth.
This test is done by the equipment that followed childbirth and can be used to check if your baby’s heart is working properly, as heart disease may not have been detected during pregnancy.
Check all tests the newborn should take
The small heart test is used to evaluate how your baby adapts to life outside the uterus. This test can detect irregularities in the muscles and blood vessels of the heart, as well as check if the heart beats the expected amount of times per minute, and even if the blood pumped through the heart contains the necessary amount of oxygen the baby needs.
Changes that can be detected by a small heart test include:
This defect consists of an opening between the right and left ventricles, which are the lower parts of the heart and should not be in direct contact with each other. It is common for this opening to close naturally, but in all cases, the pediatrician will monitor the case to see if the closure occurs spontaneously or if surgery is necessary.
Children with this mild disorder have no symptoms, but if the grade is moderate, it can cause shortness of breath and difficulty gaining weight.
The atrium is the upper part of the heart, which is divided to the left and right by a heart structure called a septum. The defect that causes atrial septum disease is a small opening in the septum, which connects the two sides. This opening may close spontaneously, but there are cases where surgery is required.
Babies with this change usually show no symptoms
Tetralogy of Fallot is a set of four defects that can affect the heart of the newborn. For example, when the lower left blood vessel of the heart is smaller than it should be, this causes muscle growth in this area, leaving the baby’s heart swollen.
These defects reduce oxygen in the body and one of the signs of the disease is the change in color in purple and blue tones on the baby’s lips and fingers. See what the other signs are and how tetralogy of Fallot is being treated.
In this case, the main arteries responsible for the circulation of oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood work upside down, where the oxygen side is not exchanged with the oxygen-free side. Signs of transposition of large arteries occur hours after birth due to lack of oxygen and the baby may also have an increase in heart rate.
In this disease, reconstructive surgery is often indicated to reconnect blood vessels to places where they should have formed during pregnancy.
The test is done with the child comfortably lying down, with his hands and feet warm. A special accessory in the form of a newborn wristband is placed on the baby’s right arm and measures the amount of oxygen in the blood.
There are no cuts or holes in this test and therefore the baby does not feel any pain or discomfort. In addition, parents can stay with the baby throughout the process, making it more comfortable.
In some cases, this test may be done on the baby’s foot, using the same wristband to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood.
The test result is considered normal and negative when the amount of oxygen in the baby’s blood is greater than 96%, so the child follows the neonatal care routine, leaving motherhood when all neonatal tests are performed.
If the test result is positive, it means that the amount of oxygen in the blood is less than 95% and, if this happens, the test should be repeated after 1 hour. In this second test, if the result persists, i.e. if it remains below 95%, the baby should be hospitalized for an echocardiogram. Find out how this is done and what the echocardiogram is for.