Open AccessPrimary blood TSH/back up TSH measurements: an improved approach for neonatal thyroid screening
Author(s) -
Najafi Mohammad,
Farsi Mostafa Mazlom,
Sabahi Masoumeh
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of clinical laboratory analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1098-2825
pISSN - 0887-8013
DOI - 10.1002/jcla.20431
Subject(s) - medicine , congenital hypothyroidism , thyroid , endocrine system , thyroid stimulating hormone , pediatrics , newborn screening , blood sampling , dried blood , endocrinology , hormone , chemistry , chromatography
Objective : Neonatal hypothyroidism is one of the most common endocrine disorders related to mental impairment and growth retardation in newborns. In many countries, the neonatal thyroid screening programs are performed for rapid diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism. The major aim of this investigation was to improve the thyroid screening program using primary blood TSH/back up TSH measurements as some patients are missed due to technical and human errors. Methods : A total of 9,118neonates were evaluated on the protocol. On top of that, the quality control procedures were applied to improve the sampling technique and the laboratory results. Results : Three missed neonates by current programs using the cutoff point more than 20 mU/l for blood TSH were found by our approach. Conclusion : Results showed that the programs based on the primary blood TSH/back up TSH measurements improve the thyroid screening results. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 25:61–63, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.