newborn screening

[applicant2002]

i am trying to find out some information about neonatal screening...I am trying to find out whether early discharge affects PKU and galactosemia and other neonatal screening tests.

Also, I read in Pediatrics for Medical students, that if a baby is not fed milk for 48 hours, these tests could be inaccurate.

The reason I am confused is because where I did my peds/ob rotations, the babes were sent home in 48 hours and i did not hear any talk of retesting these babes in the office.

i am confused and annoyed because i can't find this info online...someone help

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[Homunculus]

i am trying to find out some information about neonatal screening...I am trying to find out whether early discharge affects PKU and galactosemia and other neonatal screening tests.

Also, I read in Pediatrics for Medical students, that if a baby is not fed milk for 48 hours, these tests could be inaccurate.

The reason I am confused is because where I did my peds/ob rotations, the babes were sent home in 48 hours and i did not hear any talk of retesting these babes in the office.

i am confused and annoyed because i can't find this info online...someone help

a second metabolic screen is done at the 2 week well baby visit (at least around here) to catch the ones the initial screen misses.

--your friendly neighborhood heel-sticking caveman

 

[edmadison]

Early discharge should not impact this too much. Here's why: The hospital collects the PKU cards on all kids (at our institution, its at 24 hours of life). Every morning, a batch of these get FedExed to the state lab. They then run the samples. If they get a positive, they call the institution. The earliest you could get a result would be on DOL 3 sometime. What's the alternative? Keep the kid in the nursery until DOL 4 or 5? What would be the benefit? None. As long as you have a good phone number and can ensure follow-up contact you are good to go!

Ed

 

[14022]

from what i have been told, babies need to be feeding for 24 hours to maximize the validity of the metabolic disorders....eg, babies must have a adequate consumption of protein in order to manifest an amino acid disorder...i have never seen a baby go home within 24 hours

another clinical pearl regarding screening for galactossemia and hemoglobinopathies....if the baby receives a blood transfusions in the neonatal period, then you must wait 90 days to retest them...galactossemia and hemoglobinopathy screening assesses proteins/enzymes in the red blood cell...if you test the baby within 2-3 months of their blood transfusion, it is possible that you will be testing the donor rbc's