[A new tool for biological study: hair analysis. Value in medical practice].
Testing hair has been used since two hundred years for arsenic determination. Fifteen years ago, Baumgartner published the first report on the detection of morphine in the hair of heroin abusers by radio-immuno-assay. Today the development of new methods like gas chromatography/mass spectrometry has permitted numerous applications based on the analysis of organic substances trapped in hair. Personal observations and a review of the literature are presented in this paper to document the following clinical applications: hair as a screening procedure of psychiatric patients; hair and epileptic management; hair as a tool for monitoring neuroleptics; hair as evidence of gestational drug exposure; hair nicotine as a marker of passive exposure to tobacco; detection and clinical survey of heroin addict; evaluation of pharmaceutical exposure; hair analysis as a tool of clinical diagnosis; hair analysis for compliance monitoring.
Goullé
J P
JP
Laboratoire de pharmacocinétique, de toxicologie et de biochimie, centre hospitalier, Le Havre, France.
Kintz
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
Un nouveau moyen d'investigation biologique: l'analyse des cheveux. Intérêt en pratique médicale.