Protocol modification proposed for congenital hypothyroidism screening programme in Romania

Objective: In Romania, congenital hypothyroidism screening is performed by measuring thyroid-stimulating-hormone levels from dried blood samples. If the initial value is above the recommended cut-off value (10 mUI/L), the newborn is recalled for a second blood collection. The aim of this study was to investigate and report potential improvements on the screening protocol that is currently applied in our country in order to reduce the time between birth and treatment initiation in newborns positive to congenital hypothyroidism screening