Noninvasive pulse oximetry in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease.

Arterial oxygen saturation, determined noninvasively by pulse oximetry in 32 pediatric patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD), was compared with oxygen saturation measured by a cooximeter in simultaneously obtained arterial blood samples. The patients were studied in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, operating room, and ICU. Excellent correlation by linear regression (n = 108, r = .95) was observed between the two methods at oxygen saturations ranging from 35% to 95%. These observations show that in infants and children with cyanotic CHD, arterial oxygen saturations can be determined accurately and reliably by pulse oximetry at rest and during changing circulatory states.