Prenatal Nicotine or Cannabis Exposure and Offspring Neurobehavioral Outcomes.

Objective: To study the association between nicotine or cannabis metabolite presence in maternal urine and child neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of two parallel multicenter randomized controlled trials of treatment for hypothyroxinemia or subclinical hypothyroidism among pregnant individuals enrolled at 8-20 weeks of gestation. All maternal-child dyads with a maternal urine sample at enrollment and child neurodevelopmental testing were included (N=1,197).

Method comparison of the Ortho Vitros Fusion 5,1 chemistry analyzer and the Roche COBAS Integra 400 for urine drug screen testing in the emergency department.

Exposure to drugs and toxins is a major cause for the rising number of emergency department visits each year. Immunoassays are commonly used in the emergency department to provide rapid turnaround time for acute care. The purpose of this study was to compare two automated immunoassay chemistry analyzers to determine which platform produced the fewest number of false positive/negative results.

Effect of ultrafiltrate volume on determination of free phenytoin concentration.

Monitoring free phenytoin concentration is clinically useful for patients with uremia, hepatic disease, hypoalbuminemia, and related conditions. Free phenytoin is commonly measured by immunoassay in the protein-free ultrafiltrate prepared by centrifuging serum for 20-30 minutes, using an appropriate ultrafiltration device. We studied the effect of centrifugation time (15-40 minutes) and protein concentrations on ultrafiltration volume, and the related effects on measured free phenytoin concentrations.

Comparison of sample preservation methods for clinical trace element analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

The effects of chemical additives and storage temperatures on measurement of 16 trace elements in urine by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were evaluated. A 24-hour urine specimen was supplemented with concentrations of the elements. Aliquots containing 1 of 4 chemical additives were stored at 3 different temperatures in sealed polypropylene containers.