Newborn screening in Karnataka: A scoping review of the landscape
Kuriakose et al.
The finding, in our words
Karnataka reports a significant burden of congenital hypothyroidism and inborn errors of metabolism, yet statewide newborn screening using dried blood spots remains unimplemented despite early pilot studies. Hospital-based programmes dominate, outreach is limited, and while screening a single disorder appears economically feasible at USD 6.45 per child, sustainable implementation requires health systems research to address gaps in awareness, diagnostic thresholds and facility capacity.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
A systematic review found mixed economic evidence for microsampling in therapeutic drug monitoring; one study reported no cost reduction with DBS home-sampling, €688 versus €676, whilst another predicted savings up to 61%. The authors caution that more work is required to assess costs alongside clinical outcomes and optimise logistics for decentralised implementation.
Carland et al., British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (paywalled) · source ↗
A 2025 review maps 28 microsampling devices, from dried spots and volumetric absorptive tips to upper-arm liquid capillary collectors, and names what a laboratory must control before their results are used: the haematocrit effect in non-volumetric dried samples, interstitial fluid from finger milking, volume, haemolysis and transport stability. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic ask for the same two things, a device the patient can use safely and a sample fit for the test.
A feasibility study at a Kathmandu maternity hospital showed newborn metabolic screening using dried blood spots achieved 98.8% parental consent, driven primarily by cost-free participation. Despite pandemic-related transport delays to a central Indian laboratory, results were delivered within two weeks, detecting metabolic abnormalities in 13 of 825 infants, with 90% of healthcare providers endorsing routine implementation.
Khan et al., BMC global and public health · source ↗
This systematic review of 67 studies involving 34,739 kidney disease patients found dried blood microsampling was mainly used for immunosuppressant therapeutic drug monitoring and kidney function assessment. The approach offered cost savings, was preferred by patients for home self-collection, and provides a patient-centric opportunity to upscale longitudinal sampling and reduce participation bias in decentralised kidney disease research.
Lamond et al., Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · source ↗
This review outlines practical considerations for using dried blood spot microsampling in therapeutic drug monitoring, including patient selection, sampling technique, transport and laboratory analysis, to support its adoption in clinical practice and reduce the need for hospital-based venous sampling.
Francke et al., Therapeutic drug monitoring · source ↗