Quality assurance and standardization: summary of the satellite meeting, Turku, Finland, 11-12 June 1999

The Quality Assurance (QA) and Standardization satellite meeting addressed five major issues in newborn screening: (i) Pre- and post-analytical phases are important in the overall quality of screening, and quality assurance p rograms should include these aspects. (ii) It is possible to run a single s creening program using laboratories on more than one site, as is done in Eu rope, California and Cuba. Special quality assurance procedures are necessa ry for success. (iii) It is possible to achieve improved analytical quality and international comparison of results by use of common reference materia ls such as the amino acid materials developed in Europe and the US. It will be important to use tested paper with defined performance characteristics. (iv) It is appropriate for newborn screening programs to be accredited, bu t it will also be important to develop criteria for pre- and post-analytic phases of screening. (v) A new QA program is being developed for Latin Amer ica. The Australasian QA program now includes amino acids and acylcarnitine s in a form suitable for tandem mass spectrometry blind QA. The European So ciety for Paediatric Endocrinology has developed guidelines for CAH screeni ng.