Meconium screening for cystic fibrosis.

In our hands, the BMC-Test Meconium has been a significant step towards 
the goal of developing an ideal newborn screening test for CF. 
It is easily performed, is highly specific, has reasonably high sensitivity, 
and--given its limitation of identifying only patients with CF who have 
intrauterine pancreatic insufficiency--is the best method of screening newborns for CF 
that has been devised to date. Many technical problems remain to 
be solved before the test can be endorsed without reservation. Because 
the test, as currently constituted, does not identify all potential subjects 
for further testing who might have CF, it should not be 
made mandatory. It is, however, better than other available screening methods 
for CF and can be praised for that benefit. The concept 
has indicated a valuable new direction for mass-screening possibilities and perhaps 
can, by future modification, be made sensitive enough to warrant universal 
usage. 