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Mailing within 24 hours
Q. New rules for newborn screening require mailing specimens within 24 hours of collection; however specimens collected late on Fridays do not dry in time to ship that day. Should we ship the specimen wet, or ask the mom to return early the next week to draw an acceptable specimen?
A. The intent of the DSHS rule regarding mailing newborn screening specimens within 24 hours of collection is to get the specimens to DSHS for testing as soon as possible. We realize that it will be impossible to send all specimens within 24 hours of collection, especially for those specimens drawn before weekends or mail holidays. Specimens should be dried thoroughly and then mailed to DSHS when postal service is available. The rules emphasize the importance of the timely collection and mailing of specimens so that children with these disorders can be identified, diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible, however the first priority is to provide an acceptable specimen.
Information on Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)
Q. What does it mean when the newborn screening report states - Possible TPN- Please repeat the Newborn Screen when TPN is discontinued?
A. Some newborns have gastrointestinal systems that are too immature to absorb nutrients safely, and therefore receive their initial nutrient (amino acids, sugars and lipids) through intravenous (IV) feeding, which is called total parenteral nutrition (TPN). TPN may interfere with the newborn screen by causing elevated results for many of the analytes masking a true disorder. This is a particular concern with the Amino Acid Disorders. Please do not take the newborn screening sample off the TPN line. Please remember to note on the specimen collection card when a child is on TPN.
Newborn Screening Report Card
Q. What is the Newborn Screening Report Card, and what are the consequences of receiving
poor evaluations?
A. The newborn screening report card will provide submitters with program statistics including: the number of newborn screens submitted, transit times from specimen collection to receipt in the laboratory, and the number of unsatisfactory specimens. Since each specimen card may have up to 3 unsatisfactory codes, a separate count is given with the total number of unsatisfactory codes. The report card will also provide general statistics from other submitters with similar birth totals, and statistics on all Texas submitters.
The report card is intended to be used as a tool to monitor and improve newborn screening procedures, such as specimen collection, demographic data entry, and processing. Hopefully this will be a useful assessment tool for each facility. DSHS will use the data to identify sites that need assistance in order to provide educational tools or on-site training. |
