An evaluation of the osmole gap as a screening test for toxic alcohol poisoning

Larry Lynd; Kathryn Richardson; Roy Purssell; Riyad Abu-Laban; Jeffery Brubacher; Katherine Lepik; Marco Sivilotti

doi:10.1186/1471-227X-8-5

An evaluation of the osmole gap as a screening test for toxic alcohol poisoning

Larry Lynd, Kathryn Richardson, Roy Purssell, Riyad Abu-Laban, Jeffery Brubacher, Katherine Lepik, Marco Sivilotti

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

49 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The osmole gap is used routinely as a screening test for the presence of exogenous osmotically active substances, such as the toxic alcohols ethylene glycol and methanol, particularly when the ability to measure serum concentrations of the substances is not available. The objectives of this study were: 1) to measure the diagnostic accuracy of the osmole gap for screening for ethylene glycol and methanol exposure, and 2) to identify whether a recently proposed modification of the ethanol coefficient affects the diagnostic accuracy.

Original language	English
Article number	5
Journal	BMC Emergency Medicine
Volume	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-227X-8-5
Publication status	Published - 28 Apr 2008

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10.1186/1471-227X-8-5Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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AU - Lepik, Katherine

AU - Sivilotti, Marco

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AB - The osmole gap is used routinely as a screening test for the presence of exogenous osmotically active substances, such as the toxic alcohols ethylene glycol and methanol, particularly when the ability to measure serum concentrations of the substances is not available. The objectives of this study were: 1) to measure the diagnostic accuracy of the osmole gap for screening for ethylene glycol and methanol exposure, and 2) to identify whether a recently proposed modification of the ethanol coefficient affects the diagnostic accuracy.

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