Ärztegesundheit: Die Bedeutung von Phosphatidylethanol als Bestätigungstest

Einleitung: Whereas urinary ethyl glucuronide (EtG) levels above 1000 ng/ml reflect with a high probability ethanol consumption, levels below this cutoff are difficult to interpret since both extraneous (non-beverage) ethanol exposure, recent drinking and more distant high ethanol intake (several days ago) might yield similar results. This might be of particular relevance in medico-legal cases. To overcome this dilemma phosphatidylethanol (PEth) might be a promising marker, since blood PEth is only positive following significant alcohol use. The aim of our study was therefore to employ PEth as a marker to differ…