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Heel Stick
The neonatal heel prick is a blood collection procedure done on newborns. It consists of making a pinprick puncture in one heel of the newborn to collect their blood. This technique is used frequently as the main way to collect blood from neonates. Other techniques include venous or arterial needle sticks, cord blood sampling, or umbilical line collection. This technique is often utilized for the Guthrie test, where it is used to soak the blood into pre-printed collection cards known as Guthrie cards. The classical Guthrie test is named after Robert Guthrie, an American bacteriologist and physician who devised it in 1962. The test has been widely used throughout North America and Europe as one of the core newborn screening tests since the late 1960s. The test was initially a bacterial inhibition assay, but is gradually being replaced in many areas by newer techniques such as tandem mass spectrometry that can detect a wider variety of congenital diseases. Detected diseases The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phenylketonuria Testing
Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an inborn error of metabolism that results in decreased metabolism of the amino acid phenylalanine. Untreated PKU can lead to intellectual disability, seizures, behavioral problems, and mental disorders. It may also result in a musty smell and lighter skin. A baby born to a mother who has poorly treated PKU may have heart problems, a small head, and low birth weight. Phenylketonuria is an inherited genetic disorder. It is due to mutations in the '' PAH'' gene, which results in low levels of the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. This results in the buildup of dietary phenylalanine to potentially toxic levels. It is autosomal recessive, meaning that both copies of the gene must be mutated for the condition to develop. There are two main types, classic PKU and variant PKU, depending on whether any enzyme function remains. Those with one copy of a mutated gene typically do not have symptoms. Many countries have newborn screening programs for the disease. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (also known as thyrotropin, thyrotropic hormone, or abbreviated TSH) is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine (T4), and then triiodothyronine (T3) which stimulates the metabolism of almost every tissue in the body. It is a glycoprotein hormone produced by thyrotrope cells in the anterior pituitary gland, which regulates the endocrine function of the thyroid. Physiology Hormone levels TSH (with a half-life of about an hour) stimulates the thyroid gland to secrete the hormone thyroxine (T4), which has only a slight effect on metabolism. T4 is converted to triiodothyronine (T3), which is the active hormone that stimulates metabolism. About 80% of this conversion is in the liver and other organs, and 20% in the thyroid itself. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newborn Screening
Newborn screening (NBS) is a public health program of screening in infants shortly after birth for conditions that are treatable, but not clinically evident in the newborn period. The goal is to identify infants at risk for these conditions early enough to confirm the diagnosis and provide intervention that will alter the clinical course of the disease and prevent or ameliorate the clinical manifestations. NBS started with the discovery that the amino acid disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) could be treated by dietary adjustment, and that early intervention was required for the best outcome. Infants with PKU appear normal at birth, but are unable to metabolize the essential amino acid phenylalanine, resulting in irreversible intellectual disability. In the 1960s, Robert Guthrie developed a simple method using a bacterial inhibition assay that could detect high levels of phenylalanine in blood shortly after a baby was born. Guthrie also pioneered the collection of blood on filter pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperphenylalaninemia
Hyperphenylalaninemia is a medical condition characterized by mildly or strongly elevated concentrations of the amino acid phenylalanine in the blood. Phenylketonuria (PKU) can result in severe hyperphenylalaninemia. Phenylalanine concentrations ( he are routinely screened in newborns by the neonatal heel prick (Guthrie test), which takes a few drops of blood from the heel of the infant. Standard heconcentrations in unaffected persons are about 60 µM: heconcentrations in persons with untreated phenylketonuria may be many times that (600µM to 2400µM), which indicate that the child is at risk for severe intellectual disability. Phenylketonuria is classed as an autosomal recessive condition: in heterozygous form, heshows a moderate elevation, perhaps two-fold over that of unaffected homozygotes, which is classified as hyperphenylalaninemia ('' hyper-'' + ''phenylalanine'' + '' -emia'' = high hein blood). Symptoms and signs The coloration of the skin, hair, and eyes is different ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heel Stick Wound
Heel stick wounds are a cutaneous condition characterized by a break in the skin caused by neonatal heel prick. The heel stick is an important medical screening for the child and causes low levels of pain. See also * Hydroa vacciniforme * List of cutaneous conditions Many skin conditions affect the human integumentary system—the organ system covering the entire surface of the body and composed of skin, hair, nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function of this system is as a barrier against t ... References Skin conditions resulting from physical factors {{Dermatology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dried Blood Spot Testing
Dried blood spot testing (DBS) is a form of biosampling where blood samples are blotted and dried on filter paper. The dried samples can easily be shipped to an analytical laboratory and analysed using various methods such as DNA amplification or HPLC. History Ivar Bang first described the DBS as an unusual sampling method in 1913. The concept that capillary blood, obtained from pricking the heel or finger and blotted onto filter paper, could be used to screen for metabolic diseases in large populations of neonates was introduced in Scotland by Robert Guthrie in 1963. Neonatal screening for phenylketonuria became nationwide in 1969–70. Since then, Guthrie card samples have been collected routinely from infants in over 20 countries to screen for phenylketonuria and more recently for congenital hypothyroidism, sickle cell disorders and HIV infection. The limitations of sensitivity and specificity when screening such small volumes of blood restricted the use of dried blood spots ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
False Negative
A false positive is an error in binary classification in which a test result incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease when the disease is not present), while a false negative is the opposite error, where the test result incorrectly indicates the absence of a condition when it is actually present. These are the two kinds of errors in a binary test, in contrast to the two kinds of correct result (a and a ). They are also known in medicine as a false positive (or false negative) diagnosis, and in statistical classification as a false positive (or false negative) error. In statistical hypothesis testing the analogous concepts are known as type I and type II errors, where a positive result corresponds to rejecting the null hypothesis, and a negative result corresponds to not rejecting the null hypothesis. The terms are often used interchangeably, but there are differences in detail and interpretation due to the differences between medical testing and statist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
False Positive
A false positive is an error in binary classification in which a test result incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease when the disease is not present), while a false negative is the opposite error, where the test result incorrectly indicates the absence of a condition when it is actually present. These are the two kinds of errors in a binary test, in contrast to the two kinds of correct result (a and a ). They are also known in medicine as a false positive (or false negative) diagnosis, and in statistical classification as a false positive (or false negative) error. In statistical hypothesis testing the analogous concepts are known as type I and type II errors, where a positive result corresponds to rejecting the null hypothesis, and a negative result corresponds to not rejecting the null hypothesis. The terms are often used interchangeably, but there are differences in detail and interpretation due to the differences between medical testing and statist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galactosemia
Galactosemia (British galactosaemia, from Greek γαλακτόζη + αίμα, meaning galactose + blood, accumulation of galactose in blood) is a rare genetic metabolic disorder that affects an individual's ability to metabolize the sugar galactose properly. Galactosemia follows an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance that confers a deficiency in an enzyme responsible for adequate galactose degradation. Friedrich Goppert (1870–1927), a German physician, first described the disease in 1917, with its cause as a defect in galactose metabolism being identified by a group led by Herman Kalckar in 1956. Galactosemia was the second disorder found to be detectable through newborn screening methods by Robert Guthrie. Its incidence is about 1 per 60,000 births for people of European ancestry. In other populations the incidence rate differs. Galactosaemia is about one hundred times more common (1:480 births) in the Irish Traveller population. Symptoms Adults Infants Infan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of autosomal recessive disorders characterized by impaired cortisol synthesis. It results from the deficiency of one of the five enzymes required for the synthesis of cortisol in the adrenal cortex. Most of these disorders involve excessive or deficient production of hormones such as glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, or sex steroids, and can alter development of primary or secondary sex characteristics in some affected infants, children, or adults. It is one of the most common autosomal recessive disorders in humans. Types CAH can occur in various forms. The clinical presentation of each form is different and depends to a large extent on the underlying enzyme defect, its precursor retention, and deficient products. Classical forms appear in infancy, and nonclassical forms appear in late childhood. The presentation in patients with classic CAH can be further subdivided into two forms: salt-wasting and simple-virilizing, depending ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adrenogenital Syndrome
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of autosomal recessive disorders characterized by impaired cortisol synthesis. It results from the deficiency of one of the five enzymes required for the synthesis of cortisol in the adrenal cortex. Most of these disorders involve excessive or deficient production of hormones such as glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, or sex steroids, and can alter development of primary or secondary sex characteristics in some affected infants, children, or adults. It is one of the most common autosomal recessive disorders in humans. Types CAH can occur in various forms. The clinical presentation of each form is different and depends to a large extent on the underlying enzyme defect, its precursor retention, and deficient products. Classical forms appear in infancy, and nonclassical forms appear in late childhood. The presentation in patients with classic CAH can be further subdivided into two forms: salt-wasting and simple-virilizing, depending on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isovaleric Acidemia
Isovaleric acidemia is a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder which disrupts or prevents normal metabolism of the branched-chain amino acid leucine. It is a classical type of organic acidemia. Symptoms and signs A characteristic feature of isovaleric acidemia is a distinctive odor of sweaty feet. This odor is caused by the buildup of a compound called isovaleric acid in affected individuals. In about half of cases, the signs and symptoms of this disorder become apparent within a few days after birth and include poor feeding, vomiting, seizures, and lack of energy that can progress to coma. These medical problems are typically severe and can be life-threatening. In the other half of cases, the signs and symptoms of the disorder appear during childhood and may come and go over time. They are often triggered by an infection or by eating an increased amount of protein-rich foods. Genetics The disorder has an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern, which means the defe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
