Anest. intenziv. Med. 2013;24(5):326-331

Capillary electrophoretic method for formic acidmeasurement after methanol poisoning - casereportIntesive Care Medicine - Case Report

Bocek Robert^1,*, Kubáň Petr², Foret František², Gabzdylová Miroslava³

¹ Anesteziologicko-resuscitační oddělení, Nemocnice s poliklinikou Havířov

² Skupina bioanalytické instrumentace, Středoevropský technologický institut - Masarykova univerzita, Brno

³ Oddělení klinické biochemie, Nemocnice s poliklinikou Havířov

Methanol intoxication can be difficult to diagnose, especially if there is no supporting evidence of ingestion of the toxic compound. At the begining of the methanol intoxication epidemic in the Czech Republic (2012) we faced a negative anamnesis of alcohol consumption several times. The measured levels of methanol in these patients were very low, sometimes methanol was even not detected. The patients were suffering from concomitant illnesses and some of them had to be resuscitated during admission. Simple screening methods able to detect formic acid were not available at the beginning of the epidemic. Eventually, methanol intoxication was confirmed a few days later in a specialized toxicological laboratory. Therefore, we tested a novel capillary electrophoretic method for the rapid screening of concentration of formic acid in the serum above its normal physiological range. Analysis of the serum of the patients intoxicated with methanol proved that monitoring of formate concentration in the serum with the newly developed method before and during the medical management is possible.

Keywords: methanol; formic acid; acidosis; capillary electrophoresis; haemodialysis

Received: January 25, 2013; Accepted: July 18, 2013; Published: October 1, 2013  Show citation