(39) Peripheral Perfusion Index: Normative Values From Electronically Reported Critical Congenital Heart Disease Screening

Background: Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) screening is performed in an effort to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with CCHD by facilitating early detection. This screening consists of pulse oximetry and is most effective at identification of cyanotic cardiac lesions, with less sensitivity for left sided obstructive lesions.

Objectives: Peripheral perfusion index (PPI) is obtained from the plethysmographic signal of a pulse oximeter and represents the ratio of pulsatile to non-pulsatile blood flow. As such, it is a surrogate for peripheral perfusion at the site of measurement. PPI has been postulated to be an adjunctive screening method for low perfusion states in neonates, including left sided obstructive lesions. To date, reference ranges of PPI values in neonates have not been published in the United States. This project utilized electronically reported CCHD screening results to establish normative PPI data in healthy neonates.

Design/Methods: In Minnesota, CCHD screening results are electronically sent to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and are cross referenced against the Minnesota Birth Information System, which tracks infants who are identified to have a congenital birth defect within the first year of life. These data were provided by the MDH for infants born in Minnesota from Jan 2017 through Dec 2022. Infants were included in the analysis if they did not have a known critical congenital heart defect, were born between 35 and 42 weeks gestation, and were 24-48 hours of life at time of screening.

Results: PPI data from 11,179 cases were included in the analysis. Overall, there is a trend towards increasing PPI with gestational age. Pre-ductal PPI trended higher than post-ductal PPI. There was no difference between PPI in males and females.

Conclusion: These data reflect trends identified in international data. This is the largest dataset to date of PPI in healthy neonates and the first in the United States. Future studies will compare neonates with left sided obstructive lesions against these normative data. If PPI is found to predict left sided obstructive lesions in neonates, there may be utility in use of PPI in CCHD screening to facilitate earlier detection of these lesions.