newborn screening

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

applicant2002

Senior Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
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 😕 😕
 
applicant2002 said:
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
 
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
 
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