Inborn errors of metabolism detectable by tandem mass spectrometry in Egypt: The first newborn screening pilot study.

Objectives: To estimate the burden of metabolic disorders detectable by tandem mass spectrometry in Egypt, through a pilot expanded newborn screening programme at Cairo University Children's Hospital in 2008, and examining the results of 3,900 clinically at-risk children, investigated at Cairo University Children's Hospital for the same disorders over the past 7 years using the same technology.

Methods: Dried blood spots of 25,276 healthy newborns from three governorates in Upper, Middle, and Lower Egypt were screened, to give a representative sample of the Egyptian newborn population. Based on the pilot study outcomes and the results of clinically suspected children, we estimated the total birth prevalence of tandem mass spectrometry detectable metabolic disorders, and the relative frequency of several individual disorders.

Conference report: second conference of the Middle East and North Africa newborn screening initiative: Partnerships for sustainable newborn screening infrastructure and research opportunities.

The second conference of the Middle East and North Africa newborn screening initiative: partnerships for sustainable newborn screening infrastructure and research opportunities was held in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt on April 12 to 14, 2008. Policy makers, health ministry representatives, health care providers, and experts from the region, Europe, Asia, and North America participated. The primary outcome was development of country plans of action to implement or expand newborn screening programs.