A method for screening newborns using
electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. The method improves the current protocols that use
tandem mass spectrometry by assuring accurate and consistent results at the clinical level through enhanced quality controls and
quality assurance protocols as applied to the scan profiling and
sample preparation of blood spots from newborns. Specific additives are used in precise concentrations of internal standards, employing detailed controls adapted to distinguish twenty metabolites, which are scanned and vigorously compared to known spectra results. Revealing peaks,
metabolite concentration, and scan intensities in the
quality assurance steps are then compared to a range of thresholds to determine whether or not the sample is contaminated,
drug-ridden, diagnosable, or unacceptable. All spectra results and
quality assurance flags are organized in spreadsheet form and exported to a
database where values are compiled and stored for daily output results and
trend analysis. The method provides for high-
throughput and quality results, having a consistent
predictability for genetically testing newborns efficiently and accurately.