Report of the Korean Association of ExternalQuality Assessment Service on MetaboliteTesting (2018–2019)

ABSTRACT

External quality assessment (EQA) trials of conventional newborn screeningtests for phenylketonuria, galactosemia, congenital adrenal hyperplasia,maple syrup urine disease, homocystinuria, and congenital hypothyroidism,as well as extended newborn screening tests using tandem massspectrometry, were performed twice in 2018 and 2019. A total of 44 driedblood spot specimens were analyzed in each trial in 14–16 laboratories.Median, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values, andcut-off values were evaluated for each analyte in the newborn screeningtests. The proportion of correct answers was 95%–100%. EQA trials for theanalyses of methylmalonic acid, vanillylmandelic acid, catecholamines,metanephrines, organic acids, and amino acids were also performedusing two or three specimens per trial. A well-designed EQA program andcontinuous education can help improve the performance of metabolitetesting.