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Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) as markers for alcohol in meconium: method validation and implementation of a screening program for prenatal drug exposure

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Abstract

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy is a widespread problem and can cause severe fetal damage. As the diagnosis of fetal alcohol syndrome is difficult, the implementation of a reliable marker for alcohol consumption during pregnancy into meconium drug screening programs would be invaluable. A previously published gas chromatography mass spectrometry method for the detection of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) as alcohol markers in meconium was optimized and newly validated for a sample size of 50 mg. This method was applied to 122 cases from a drug-using population. The meconium samples were also tested for common drugs of abuse. In 73 % of the cases, one or more drugs were found. Twenty percent of the samples tested positive for FAEEs at levels indicating significant alcohol exposure. Consequently, alcohol was found to be the third most frequently abused substance within the study group. This re-validated method provides an increase in testing sensitivity, is reliable and easily applicable as part of a drug screening program. It can be used as a non-invasive tool to detect high alcohol consumption in the last trimester of pregnancy. The introduction of FAEEs testing in meconium screening was found to be of particular use in a drug-using population.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. René Gapert’s stay at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Berlin was supported by a DAAD Research Scholarship (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst—German Academic Exchange Service Research Grant A/11/75955).

Conflict of interest

None.

Sample collection and origin

All data was anonymized before evaluation. This data was collected as part of a study approved by the Ethics Committee of the Charité—University Hospital Berlin (Code EA4/048/10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité, University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Martin Hastedt, Franziska Krumbiegel, René Gapert, Michael Tsokos & Sven Hartwig

  2. Human Anatomy Laboratory, UCD School of Medicine & Medical Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    René Gapert

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  1. Martin Hastedt
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  2. Franziska Krumbiegel
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  3. René Gapert
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  4. Michael Tsokos
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  5. Sven Hartwig
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Correspondence to René Gapert.

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Hastedt, M., Krumbiegel, F., Gapert, R. et al. Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) as markers for alcohol in meconium: method validation and implementation of a screening program for prenatal drug exposure. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 9, 287–295 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-012-9385-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-012-9385-3

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