VOA标准英语2011--Experts Recommend Screening Newborns for

Experts Recommend Screening Newborns for Heart Defects

One of the scariest things a new parent can hear is, “your baby has a birth defect.” But some of the most dangerous birth defects are are invisible ones, such as deformities in the baby's tiny heart.
Now, a group of U.S. experts is recommending that all newborns get a simple, inexpensive screening for critical heart defects.
Congenital heart disease affects only about one birth out of 120 in the United States, and only a fraction of those are considered critical. But given the number of babies born each year, it adds up.
About three-quarters of critical heart defects can be identified by routine tests already in use, "but unfortunately there are still cases that can slip through," says Duke University pediatrician Alex Kemper. "And the challenge is that it can be almost impossible to identify some of these cases. These are babies that otherwise look totally normal and like every other baby in the nursery."
Kemper is a member of the expert panel that is recommending infants be screened for critical heart problems using a simple, non-invasive test called pulse oximetry.
The idea is to measure the oxygen level in the blood. Low oxygen levels may signal a problem with the heart.
The test measures oxygen levels indirectly¹, by shining certain wavelengths² of light through a foot or finger onto a sensor³ on the other side.
Kemper says it's important to identify kids with these critical heart problems early on in life.
"Because these are conditions that really need early intervention⁴ in that if you were to discharge some of these children without providing any medical care, they could go home and even die."
Although pulse oximetry screening is easy and cheap, the hard part comes when an infant is identified with a potential heart defect. More advanced testing is then needed, and even in a wealthy country like the United States, not all hospitals can provide those services.
So does the screening make sense in more resource-poor areas? Kemper says yes, because it can identify some hidden problems that may not require expensive, high-tech⁵ treatments.
"Anything that causes low oxygen levels in the blood would test positive. And so, there are potential other spillover effects including identifying important infections."
The recommendations of the expert workgroup, including Duke University's Alex Kemper, on screening newborns for heart defects is published online by the journal Pediatrics.

1 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

2 wavelengths   

n.波长( wavelength的名词复数 )；具有相同的/不同的思路；合拍；不合拍

参考例句：

• I find him difficult to talk to—we're on completely different wavelengths. 我没法和他谈话，因为我们俩完全不对路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sunlight consists of different wavelengths of radiation. 阳光由几种不同波长的射线组成。 来自辞典例句

3 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。