title: National screening program vs. standardized neurodevelopmental follow-up.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Long-term follow-up is urgently needed to decide on the consequences of new therapies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study assesses the use of a national child development screening program for a follow-up examination of a defined patient group.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neurodevelopmental outcome of 139 survivors after intrauterine laser coagulation for severe twin-twin transfusion syndrome was investigated both according to a standardized neurodevelopmental follow-up and according to the pediatricians' screening examinations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Screening and standardized tests revealed identical results in 90.6% of the cases. Using the national screening program only four out of 139 children (2.9%) with minor neurological disabilities would have been missed. For identifying mild or severe neurodevelopmental abnormalities the screening has a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 93%. The positive predictive value is 61% and the negative predictive value 97%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of already available and established follow-up programs for extended follow-up studies would considerably reduce costs, time and manpower.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, University Children's Hospital, Bonn, Germany. Cornelia.Graef@ukb.uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maschke
authors.forename: Birte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ellenrieder
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hecher
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bartmann