Umbilical cord tissue vs meconium for neonatal toxicology testing

Most perinatal hospitals use a combination of maternal risk assessment and neonatal toxicology testing to identify infants at risk for substance withdrawal symptoms and to confirm the types of drugs that may have been used during pregnancy. Although meconium has been used for many years as the specimen of choice for toxicology testing, screening can also be performed on umbilical cord tissue. Due to the easy availability of umbilical cord tissue, this method is growing in popularity but there have been few studies that compare the equivalence of umbilical cord tissue with meconium.
Source: The Journal of Pediatrics - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: The Editors' Perspectives Source Type: research