The ............................................ provides newborn blood spot screening for ........................... and clinical diagnostic metabolic investigations.
Every baby is offered newborn blood spot screening, ideally when they're five days old. Newborn bloodspot screening involves a blood sample to determine if the infant has 1 of 9 rare but severe health conditions. At five days old, a healthcare professional will prick the child's heel and collect drops of blood on a specific card used for dried blood spot tests. 6 of 9 health conditions are inherited metabolic diseases measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC MSMS). Metabolic investigations consist of several tests. Both acylcarnitine and phenylalanine tests are used as clinically requested follow-up tests for patients with specific types of inherited metabolic diseases.
