scholarly journals Three years pilot of spinal muscular atrophy newborn screening turned into official program in Southern Belgium

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
François Boemer ◽  
Jean-Hubert Caberg ◽  
Pablo Beckers ◽  
Vinciane Dideberg ◽  
Samantha di Fiore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Newborn Screening ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
European Medicines Agency ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
New Therapies

AbstractThree new therapies for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency since 2016. Although these new therapies improve the quality of life of patients who are symptomatic at first treatment, administration before the onset of symptoms is significantly more effective. As a consequence, newborn screening programs have been initiated in several countries. In 2018, we launched a 3-year pilot program to screen newborns for SMA in the Belgian region of Liège. This program was rapidly expanding to all of Southern Belgium, a region of approximately 55,000 births annually. During the pilot program, 136,339 neonates were tested for deletion of exon 7 of SMN1, the most common cause of SMA. Nine SMA cases with homozygous deletion were identified through this screen. Another patient was identified after presenting with symptoms and was shown to be heterozygous for the SMN1 exon 7 deletion and a point mutation on the opposite allele. These ten patients were treated. The pilot program has now successfully transitioned into the official neonatal screening program in Southern Belgium. The lessons learned during implementation of this pilot program are reported.

scholarly journals Massachusetts’ Findings from Statewide Newborn Screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Jaime E. Hale ◽  
Basil T. Darras ◽  
Kathryn J. Swoboda ◽  
Elicia Estrella ◽  
Jin Yun Helen Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Newborn Screening ◽  
New England ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Newborn Screening Program ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
Screening Algorithm ◽  
New Treatment

Massachusetts began newborn screening (NBS) for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) following the availability of new treatment options. The New England Newborn Screening Program developed, validated, and implemented a screening algorithm for the detection of SMA-affected infants who show absent SMN1 Exon 7 by Real-Time™ quantitative PCR (qPCR). We screened 179,467 neonates and identified 9 SMA-affected infants, all of whom were referred to a specialist by day of life 6 (average and median 4 days of life). Another ten SMN1 hybrids were observed but never referred. The nine referred infants who were confirmed to have SMA were entered into treatment protocols. Early data show that some SMA-affected children have remained asymptomatic and are meeting developmental milestones and some have mild to moderate delays. The Massachusetts experience demonstrates that SMA NBS is feasible, can be implemented on a population basis, and helps engage infants for early treatment to maximize benefit.

scholarly journals Validation of a Fast, Robust, Inexpensive, Two-Tiered Neonatal Screening Test algorithm on Dried Blood Spots for Spinal Muscular Atrophy

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annuska Strunk ◽  
Andre Abbes ◽  
Antoine Stuitje ◽  
Chris Hettinga ◽  
Eline Sepers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Newborn Screening ◽  
Neonatal Screening ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Melting Curve ◽  
Curve Analysis ◽  
Melting Curve Analysis ◽  
Smn1 Gene ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Crude Extracts

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is one of the leading genetic causes of infant mortality with an incidence of 1:10,000. The recently-introduced antisense oligonucleotide treatment improves the outcome of this disease, in particular when applied at an early stage of progression. The genetic cause of SMA is, in >95% of cases, a homozygous deletion of the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene, which makes the low-cost detection of SMA cases as part of newborn screening programs feasible. We developed and validated a new SALSA MC002 melting curve assay that detects the absence of the SMN1 exon 7 DNA sequence without detecting asymptomatic carriers and reliably discriminates SMN1 from its genetic homolog SMN2 using crude extracts from newborn screening cards. Melting curve analysis shows peaks specific for both the SMN1 gene and the disease modifying SMN2 homolog. The detection of the SMN2 homolog, of which the only clinically relevant difference from the SMN1 gene is a single nucleotide in exon 7, was only used to confirm a correct reaction in samples that lacked the SMN1 gene, and not for SMN2 quantification. We retrieved 47 DBS samples from children with genetically-confirmed SMA, after informed consent from parents, and 375 controls from the national archive of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). The assay correctly identified all anonymized and randomized SMA and control samples (i.e., sensitivity and specificity of 100%), without the detection of carriers, on the three most commonly-used PCR platforms with melting curve analysis. This test’s concordance with the second-tier ‘golden standard’ P021 SMA MLPA test was 100%. Using the new P021–B1 version, crude extracts from DBS cards could also be used to determine the SMN2 copy number of SMA patients with a high level of accuracy. The MC002 test showed the feasibility and accuracy of SMA screening in a neonatal screening program.

scholarly journals Landscape of Spinal Muscular Atrophy Newborn Screening in the United States: 2018–2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Kshea Hale ◽  
Jelili Ojodu ◽  
Sikha Singh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Spinal Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Newborn Screening ◽  
Human Services ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Genetic Disorders ◽  
The United States ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Review Current

Newborn screening (NBS) programs identify newborns at increased risk for genetic disorders, linking these newborns to timely intervention and potentially life-saving treatment. In the United States, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children (ACHDNC) recommends the disorders for state NBS programs to screen. ACHDNC updated the Recommended Uniform Screening Panel to include Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) in July 2018. As of June 2021, 34 state NBS programs had fully implemented SMA newborn screening, and at least 8 programs were pursuing implementation. This article will review current SMA screening processes, considerations, challenges, and status.

scholarly journals Views of the General Population on Newborn Screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy in Japan

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 694
Author(s):  
Tomoko Lee ◽  
Sachi Tokunaga ◽  
Naoko Taniguchi ◽  
Tetsuro Fujino ◽  
Midori Saito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Early Diagnosis ◽  
Spinal Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Newborn Screening ◽  
Muscle Atrophy ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Muscular Atrophy ◽  
Neuromuscular Disorder ◽  
New Therapies

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic neuromuscular disorder that results in progressive muscle atrophy and weakness. As new therapies for SMA have been developed, newborn screening for SMA can lead to early diagnosis and treatment. The objective of this study was to gather the general population’s view on screening of SMA in newborns in Japan. A questionnaire survey was conducted on two general population groups in Japan. A total of 269 valid responses were obtained. In the general population, about half of the participants had no knowledge about SMA, and more than 90% did not know about new therapies for SMA. Conversely, more than 95% of the general population agreed with screening newborns for SMA because they believed that early diagnosis was important, and treatments were available. This study revealed that the general population in Japan mostly agreed with screening for SMA in newborns even though they did not know much about SMA. Newborn screening for SMA is promising, but it is in very early stages. Therefore, SMA newborn screening should be performed with sufficient preparation and consideration in order to have a positive impact on SMA patients and their families.

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