title: LC-MS (/MS) in clinical toxicology screening methods.
abstract: Toxicological screening is the analysis of biological samples to detect and identify unknown compounds. The high selectivity and sensitivity of liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) or tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) technology provide an attractive alternative  to the current methods (LC-UV, GC/MS, etc.). For these reasons, an increasing number of applications are being published. This paper is a brief overview of LC-MS(/MS) screening methods developed for clinical toxicology in recent years. Various sample treatments, chromatographic separations  and detection by mass spectrometry can be combined to obtain screening methods adapted to the constraints and needs of clinical toxicology laboratories. Currently the techniques are in the hands of specialists, mainly in academic institutions. However, the evolution in technology should allow  application of these techniques as a tool in toxicology laboratories, thus allowing a more widespread exploitation of their potential.
authors.affiliation: ADMed Laboratoires, 20 rue de Chasseral CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Viette
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hochstrasser
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fathi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014116:Toxicology / Q000379:methods*