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Tandem Mass Spectrometry in Clinical Diagnosis

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Physician’s Guide to the Laboratory Diagnosis of Metabolic Diseases

Abstract

Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is an analytical method that uses two mass analyzers to perform the separation and analysis of mixture components after ionizing them, usually by means of a “soft” ionization technique such as electrospray or fast ion bombardment. The method differs from the more familiar gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method, used primarily for analysis of organic acids in urine, in several ways. MS/ MS is applicable to polar compounds that are not readily amenable to GC/ MS. By limiting or altogether avoiding the chromatography step, the analytical process is much faster and therefore capable of high specimen throughput. MS/MS is well suited to the quantitative analysis of specific metabolites or to groups of metabolites having similar chemical structure. It is thus a useful adjunct to GC/MS and other methods currently used in clinical diagnostic laboratories. Clinical applications of MS/MS are almost exclusively performed on a “triple” quadrupole mass spectrometer [1], equipped with electro spray ionization [2] and an automated sample introduction system. The central quadrupole in this type of instrument is actually a device that induces fragmentation and not a mass analyzer.

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Authors
  1. David S. Millington
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Clinical Chemistry and Biochemistry, University Children’s Hospital, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032, Zürich, Switzerland

    Nenad Blau

  2. Dept. of Pediatrics and Clinical Chemistry, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Marinus Duran

  3. 3639 Amesbury Road, Los Angeles, CA, 90027, USA

    Milan E. Blaskovics

  4. Biochemical Genetics Laboratory Dept. of Molecular and Med. Genetics, Oregon Health & Science University, 2525 SW 3rd Avenue, Suite 350, Portland, Oregon, 97201, USA

    K. Michael Gibson

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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Millington, D.S. (2003). Tandem Mass Spectrometry in Clinical Diagnosis. In: Blau, N., Duran, M., Blaskovics, M.E., Gibson, K.M. (eds) Physician’s Guide to the Laboratory Diagnosis of Metabolic Diseases. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55878-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55878-8_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62709-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-55878-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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