Determination of EDTA in dried blood samples by tandem mass spectrometry avoids serious errors in newborn screening

Newborn screening programs use whole blood dried on filter paper as the standard specimen. Metabolites are reasonably stable and can easily be sent to screening laboratories by regular mail. The recommended sample collection procedure is to spot native blood without anticoagulants onto the filter paper, because anticoagulants can interfere with the different laboratory methods. However, visual examination of the blood spots cannot always detect contamination. In this study, whole blood was drawn by venous puncture from a healthy volunteer, spiked with the corresponding metabolites and EDTA, and spotted onto filter paper. TSH and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone were determined by time resolved fluoroimmunoassays with the AutoDelfia system. Total galactose, biotinidase activity, and galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase activity were measured photometrically or fluorometrically. Succinyl acetone was estimated indirectly through the inhibition of porphobilinogen synthase activity (PBGS assay). EDTA, amino acids, and acylcarnitines were converted to the corresponding butyl esters, after extraction with methanol, and analysed by LC-MS/MS. EDTA contamination gives falsely elevated 17-OHP values and falsely reduced TSH and PBGS values. The inclusion of an EDTA determination in routine screening revealed that at least 0.06% of newborn screening samples were contaminated with EDTA. In conclusion, non-conformity during the pre-analytical phase is a source of false positive and false negative screening results. Determination of EDTA from NBS blood spots can reliably identify these samples and prevent screening errors.