A urine sample was submitted to our laboratory for drugs of abuse testing. The ordering provider mentioned that he was specifically interested in assessing the presence of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Screening was performed... more
A urine sample was submitted to our laboratory for drugs of abuse testing. The ordering provider mentioned that he was specifically interested in assessing the presence of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Screening was performed with an automated immunoassay (Abbott Alinity) for opiates, oxycodone/oxymorphone, benzodiazepines, ethanol, THC, cocaine, barbiturates, methadone, and amphetamine/methamphetamine. The only component that screened positive was amphetamine/ methamphetamine. The positive amphetamine result reflexed confirmatory testing. Confirmatory testing was performed using enzyme hydrolysis followed by analysis using a SciEx Triple Quad 5500 with a Kinetex, 2.6 um Biphenyl 100 Å, LC Column 50 × 3.0 mm. Confirmatory testing with LC-MS/MS revealed a possible trace amount of the MDMA qualifier ion at the expected retention time but did not meet criteria to justify a finding of MDMA (qualifier and quantifier ions for MDMA are 194.1/163.1 and 194.1/105.1, respectively). The presence of a peak corresponding to the retention time of MDMA, as well as the positive amphetamine screen result, led to further inquiry of the ordering provider as to the origins of the specimen.
