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.