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Ethylene glycol poisoning often is suspected when both an anion gap and an osmolar gap are present in a patient with alcohol dependence or ingestion. But confirmation of the diagnosis — desirable because treatment is expensive and not without risk — usually requires sending a blood sample to an outside laboratory and waiting for results. In a prospective observational study, researchers evaluated the ability of a rapid qualitative test used by veterinarians to detect ethylene glycol in 24 samples from patients with suspected toxic alcohol poisoning. Gas chromatography was the reference standard.
The qualitative test identified all 15 samples that were positive for ethylene glycol by gas chromatography (sensitivity, 100%). The qualitative tes…