Newborn thyroid screening in a municipal hospital
P. Harris and N. G. Dreyfus
Successful recall of patients with abnormal results of neonatal screening
tests is difficult to accomplish. A system of centralization of the process
was implemented at a municipal hospital and evaluated after one year. Two
thousand two hundred thirty-four newborn infants were screened for
congenital hypothyroidism. Ninety-one percent of the 101 infants who
required recall were returned for retesting. Centralization of the process
of recall of newborns with abnormal screen results was an effective way to
obtain additional specimens successfully in a setting in which patients use
carried pediatric primary health care facilities. However, the high recall
rate experienced by our hospital resulted in high costs in terms of
professional and personnel time and anxiety for the individual families.