Evaluation of the Q.E.D.™ saliva alcohol test: A new, rapid, accurate device for measuring ethanol in saliva

Christopher, Theodore A.; Zeccardi, Joseph A.

doi:10.1016/s0196-0644(05)80659-6

“…OraSure Technologies Inc. (Bethlehem, PA) has developed a swab that collects saliva and, within 5 minutes, registers an ethanol concentration up to 350 mg/dL (76 mmol/L). Two studies have reported that OraSure's product has statistically significant correlation and is accurate with blood ethanol concentrations [37][38]. Even in the presence of oral blood, as with trauma patients, there was good correlation (r = 0.976; p < 0.001) (37).…”

Section: Saliva Ethanol Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Saliva has demonstrated itself as a reliable means to measure ethanol and correlates well with blood ethanol levels [37][38][39]. A relatively new method of testing ethanol levels is via a saliva point-of-care test.…”

Section: Saliva Ethanol Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The clinical significance of variations in ethanol toxicokinetics

Pizon

¹

,

Becker

²

,

Bikin

³

2007

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Introduction: Many variables affect the interpretation of an isolated ethanol level in an acutely intoxicated patient. This review demonstrates the significant variability in metabolism and elimination of ethanol, how it can differ between individuals, and the clinical importance of these variables.Discussion: Isolated ethanol values in a clinical scenario are only a snapshot of a dynamic process. The individual pharmacokinetic differences of people make it extremely difficult to estimate ethanol elimination rates or calculate previous ethanol concentrations at the time of an accident because of medical-legal reasons. Not only are the techniques used in measuring ethanol concentrations in bodily fluids (blood, serum, breath, and urine) not equivalent, but also the units used to report ethanol concentrations are often misinterpreted. Acute and chronic tolerance and social adaptive changes make interpreting this isolated ethanol level extremely difficult. The purpose of this review is to enable the clinician to appropriately interpret ethanol concentrations. Conclusion:The clinical evaluation of a patient's inebriation is always more reliable than an isolated ethanol level for determining disposition. Only an estimation of a current serum ethanol level can be made if the blood draw was performed hours earlier. This review is clinically important because it shows the clinically significant variability in metabolism and elimination of ethanol and how it can differ between individuals. It will also describe different ways to measure ethanol concentrations and how to compare them. Finally, the interpretation of isolated ethanol levels will be discussed.

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“…This difficulty in getting enough saliva was not a problem in two previous studies with the Q.E.D. TM when healthy volunteers participated and moderate amounts of alcohol had been consumed (Christopher and Zeccardi, 1992;Jones, 1995).The patients in this study were all chronic alcoholics and abuse of alcohol has been suggested to give rise to functional changes in the parotid gland leading to a reduced secretion of total saliva (Sagatelian et al, 1998;Slomiany et al, 1997). This might explain some of the difficulties encountered in obtaining enough saliva for analysis.…”

Section: Saliva Alcohol Analysismentioning

confidence: 66%

Monitoring Ethanol Exposure in a Clinical Setting by Analysis of Blood, Breath, Saliva, and Urine

Bendtsen¹,

Hultberg²,

Carlsson³

et al. 1999

Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

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“…This difficulty in getting enough saliva was not a problem in two previous studies with the Q.E.D. TM when healthy volunteers participated and moderate amounts of alcohol had been consumed (Christopher and Zeccardi, 1992;Jones, 1995).The patients in this study were all chronic alcoholics and abuse of alcohol has been suggested to give rise to functional changes in the parotid gland leading to a reduced secretion of total saliva (Sagatelian et al, 1998;Slomiany et al, 1997). This might explain some of the difficulties encountered in obtaining enough saliva for analysis.…”

Section: Saliva Alcohol Analysismentioning

confidence: 66%

“…is a new quantitative test for measuring ethanol in saliva, and in several controlled studies with volunteer subjects, promising results have been obtained. However, little is known about how this saliva-testing device works in clinical settings with heavily intoxicated subjects (Bates and Martin, 1997;Christopher and Zeccardi, 1992;Jones, 199.5).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%