The influence of sex, gestational age, birth weight, blood transfusion, and timing of the heel prick on the pancreatitis-associated protein concentration in newborn screening for cystic fibrosis.

Background: Pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) is currently discussed as a marker in newborn screening (NBS) for cystic fibrosis (CF). However, it is not known if PAP concentrations are influenced by sex, gestational age, birth weight, blood transfusion or time of collection and what this would mean for NBS for CF.

Methods: In 2008 all newborns in part of the Netherlands were screened for CF by an IRT/PAP protocol.