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Am J Perinatol 1997; 14(10): 637-639
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1040768
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

© 1997 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Correlation of Urine and Serum Benzoylecgonine Levels in Pregnant Women

M. Monga1 , S. S. Wong2 , K. D. Larrabee1 , R. L. Andres1
  • 1Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Texas Medical School Houston, Houston, Texas
  • 2Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Medical School Houston, Houston, Texas
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Publication Date:
04 March 2008 (online)

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ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation between urine and serum benzoylecgonine (BE) levels in pregnant women who use crack cocaine. Ten women who had recently smoked crack cocaine were recruited from a prenatal substance abuse clinic to participate in this study. Urine and serum were obtained concurrently for quantitative determination of BE, (the major metabolite of cocaine), using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Pearson correlation was used for statistical analysis. The median reported interval since most recent crack use was 35 hours (range 9.5 to 63 hr). The median gestational age of the subjects was 31 weeks (range 22 to 38 weeks). Urine benzoylecgonine levels ranged from 1038 ng/mL to 1,950,563 ng/mL and serum BE levels ranged from 2.5 to 3074.3 ng/mL. Pearson correlation for urine and serum BE levels was 0.92, p < 0.001. This is the first study to report the correlation between urine and serum BE levels in pregnant women who use crack cocaine.

Keywords

Cocaine - pregnancy - serum levels - benzoylecgonine