Are the results of heel blood collection for newborn babies accurate?

The results of heel blood collection in newborn babies are relatively accurate. The main purpose of heel blood collection is to screen for congenital hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria. A negative heel blood result is safe; a positive result means that the condition is suspected and needs to be reviewed, and a diagnosis cannot be made based on the results of the screening test alone. The vast majority of newborns have normal test results, and only a very small number of parents are notified that their baby’s test results are abnormal. Parents who receive an abnormal report do not need to be overly nervous and anxious, as abnormal screening results are a preliminary screening test and not a final diagnosis. A positive result does not necessarily mean that the baby has the disease, but further review is needed to confirm the result. In short, among the babies who received the notification, some of them are false positives, that is, they are fine, and only some of them will eventually be diagnosed as patients.