title: False positive results in a neuroblastoma screening programme.
abstract: Twenty thousand, eight hundred and twenty-nine babies were screened for neuroblastoma at 6 months of age by measuring homovanillic (HVA) and vanillylmandelic (VMA) acid in urine and rationing these to creatinine. Using a "cut off" of the mean + 3 SD, 10 were found to be positive. Two were found on evaluation to have neuroblastoma and in the remaining 8 the raised levels of HVA and/or VMA returned to normal. Only one of the 8 false positive babies was absolutely normal, most having a chronic disorder or illness. Utilising new centiles which relate HVA and VMA to creatinine, only 3 of the 8 would have remained positive, a false positive rate of 0.01%. The false negative rate would have remained unchanged.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Health, Medical School, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Craft
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: McGill
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seviour
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D004739:England; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006719:Homovanillic Acid / Q000652:urine; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000652:urine; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014642:Vanilmandelic Acid / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D014642:Vanilmandelic Acid; D003404:Creatinine; D006719:Homovanillic Acid