ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with two major topics: first, the analysis of drugs; and second, various laboratory management considerations. It highlights the clinical indications, the extraction procedures, and limit of detection of liquid chromatography analyses of post-1980 published biological specimens such as serum or urine. The chapter considers the personnel, technical, and quality control requirements based upon the author's experience, with the assumption that a dedicated group of technologists is involved in therapeutic drug monitoring and toxicology measurements. Depending upon the instrumentation/procedures, various types of specimens would be needed: for example, plasma is preferred for antidepressant assay due to a serum interference peak. However, serum might be entirely suitable for another laboratory's procedure, free drug levels have been increasingly utilized for selected patient groups. For the preparation of ultrafiltrate using an Aminco filter, close attention to the timing and preparation should be followed. Also, cerebral spinal fluid and saliva may be suitable for free drug measurements.
