Second-tier testing for 21-hydroxylase deficiency in the Netherlands; a newborn screening pilot study

Kevin Stroek, An Ruiter, Annelieke van der Linde, Mariette Ackermans, Marelle J Bouva, Henk Engel, Bernadette Jakobs, Evelien A Kemper, Erica L T van den Akker, Mirjam E van Albada, Gianni Bocca, Martijn J J Finken, Sabine E Hannema, E C A Mieke Houdijk, Hetty J van der Kamp, Vera van Tellingen, A S Paul van Trotsenburg, Nitash Zwaveling-Soonawala, Annet M Bosch, Robert de JongeAnnemieke C Heijboer, Hedi L Claahsen-van der Grinten, Anita Boelen*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

    16 Citations (Scopus)
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    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: Newborn screening (NBS) for classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) consists of 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) measurement with gestational age-adjusted cut-off values. A second heel puncture (HP) is performed in newborns with inconclusive results to reduce false-positives. We assessed the accuracy and turnaround time of the current CAH NBS-algorithm and compared this to alternative algorithms by performing a second-tier 21-deoxycortisol (21-DF) pilot-study.

    METHODS: Dried blood spots (DBS) of newborns with inconclusive and positive 17-OHP (immunoassay) first HP results were sent from regional NBS laboratories to the Amsterdam UMC Endocrine Laboratory. In 2017-2019 21-DF concentrations were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, in parallel with routine NBS. Diagnoses were confirmed by mutation analysis.

    RESULTS: 328 DBS were analyzed. 37 newborns had confirmed classic CAH, 33 were false-positive and 258 were categorized as negative in the second HP following the current algorithm. In the second-tier, all 37 confirmed CAH had elevated 21-DF concentrations, all 33 false-positives and 253/258 second HP negatives had undetectable 21-DF concentrations. The elevated 21-DF of the other five newborns may be NBS false-negatives or second-tier false-positives. Adding the second-tier to inconclusive first HPs reduced the number of false-positives to 11 and prevented all 286 second HPs. Adding the second-tier to both positive and inconclusive first HPs eliminated all false-positives at the cost of delayed referral for 31 CAH patients (1-4 days).

    CONCLUSION: Application of the second-tier 21-DF measurement to inconclusive first HPs improved our CAH NBS by reducing false-positives, abolishing the second HP and thereby shortening referral time.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)e4487-e4996
    Number of pages10
    JournalJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
    Volume106
    Issue number11
    Early online date25-Jun-2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov-2021

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