Results of NJ Law Requiring Newborn Screening Resonate Nationwide

Three New Jersey babies with congenital heart defects had their conditions detected early thanks to newborn screening required under a law that has put the state in the forefront of a national movement to mandate the test. State officials have been receiving calls from across the country about the successful implementation of the 2011 law, which is the subject of a study published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.

The law mandates a form of screening called pulse oximetry, in which a device placed on an infant’s foot tests the baby’s blood. A negative result can show that there is an underlying health problem, such as a congenital heart defect. Early screening allows for life-saving surgeries to repair infants’ damaged hearts.

The study found that in addition to the three babies found to have congenital heart defects, another 17 of the roughly 73,000 infants screened had other serious health problems detected as a result of the testing . The study covered the first nine months of screening, from August 31, 2011, to May 31, 2012.

Hospitals in New Jersey managed to screen more than 99 percent of eligible newborns even though the mandate kicked in only three months after the law went into effect.

“During those 90 days, we worked quickly to convene a working group of experts” and to develop the steps to be used, said Dr. Lorraine Garg, a study author and the medical director of newborn screening and genetic services for the state Department of Health.

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