Dried blood spots from newborn screening can help identify the cause of sudden cardiac death in the young

The underlying cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in a young person is often difficult to identify. A genetic analysis could provide more information in many cases, but blood samples are not collected routinely at the time of death, and DNA extracted from the tissues collected at autopsy is damaged because of the way they are fixed in formalin and paraffin-embedded. But finding the cause is vital if relatives who may carry the same genetic variant as the victim are to be screened. Now, for the first time, researchers in Sweden have been able to carry out molecular autopsies for SCD nationwide, using dried blood spots (DBS) collected up to 40 years ago as part of the routine screening of newborn babies. Their findings will be presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today.

source https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-08-dried-blood-newborn-screening-sudden.html