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CordStatSM
The current “best practices” procedure for diagnosing the in utero drug exposure of fetuses is
testing the newborn’s meconium for the presence of drugs. Meconium is, however, difficult to collect and
in 8-20% of births in the U.S. the meconium is released into the amniotic fluid pre-birth due to some type of
fetal distress. While drugs may have induced this fetal distress it is unlikely that these infants will be tested
for drug exposure due to lack of available meconium for testing. The opportunity to provide these infants with
appropriate treatment and intervention is lost.
CordStatSM is a new drug test format that utilizes umbilical cord tissue as the sample matrix.
CordStatSM provides several advantages over the meconium testing matrix:
- Umbilical cord sections are easy to collect, store, and ship.
- Umbilical cord sections are available for testing from those infants that have undergone fetal stress.
- In many instances umbilical cord testing results will be available earlier (1-2 days) than meconium testing results.
- Studies have shown that umbilical cord sections demonstrate a greater sensitivity than meconium for the
specific drugs methamphetamine, and marijuana.
- Umbilical cord sections have a window of detection for abused drugs equal to or greater than that provided by meconium.
CordStatSM–5 drug panel was launched on October 1, 2007. CordStatSM–7,9,and 12 panels will be launched September 01, 2008.
For CordStat SM Frequently Asked Questions click here.
For Collection Instructions click here.
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