title: A synopsis of the adverse analytical and atypical findings between 2005 and 2011 from the Doping Control Laboratory of Athens in Greece.
abstract: This article concerns the analysis of the Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) and the appropriate alterations made during the period 2005-2011, so that the Doping Control Laboratory of Athens (DCLA) obeys the updated World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) List of Prohibited Substances. The % AAFs of the DCLA was compared with those of WADA-Accredited Laboratories. In 2008, the term Atypical Finding was introduced by the WADA representing a reported but inconclusive result. A characteristic example is when a testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio is >4 followed by a negative gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry result. In a total of about 30,000 athlete samples, 136 athletes were found with an increased testosterone/epitestosterone ratio and 43 with tetrahydrocannabinol metabolite (THCCOOH) of 427 reported AAFs. Twenty-one athletes in total were found positive with methylhexaneamine, the 11 found after a batch of 1000 samples was reprocessed. Besides, there were AAFs below their Minimum Required Performance Level (MRPL). The increasing need for higher detectability imposed new apparatus, e.g., liquid chromatography/quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry, whereas that for lowering the capital costs and reporting times led to the unification of the screening method which includes stimulants, diuretics, anabolics and other substances.
authors.affiliation: 1Doping Control Laboratory of Athens, Olympic Athletic Center of Athens 'Spiros Louis', 37 Kifissias Ave., Maroussi 151 23, Greece.
authors.forename: Nassia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kioukia-Fougia
authors.forename: Argyro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fragkaki
authors.forename: Polyxeni
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kiousi
authors.forename: Irene-Pelagia
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Leontiou
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dimopoulou
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsivou
authors.forename: Emmanouil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lyris
authors.forename: Costas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Georgakopoulos
mesh_terms: D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000652:urine*; D056352:Athletes; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D004300:Doping in Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances / Q000652:urine; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D045930:Anabolic Agents; D058573:Performance-Enhancing Substances