The LC/MS Quantitation of Vardenafil (Levitra) in Postmortem Biological Specimens

Civil Aerospace Medical Institute2006PDFTech ReportJohnson, Robert D.Lewis, Russell J.Angier, Mike K.United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Civil Aerospace Medical InstituteUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Office of Aerospace MedicineUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation. Civil Aerospace Medical InstituteUnited StatesForensic scienceToxicologyDiseases and medical conditionsAircraft collisionsCrash investigationForensic toxicologyerectile dysfunctionVardenafilLC/MSaircraft accident investigationDOT/FAA/AM-06/17Public DomainDuring the investigation of aviation accidents, postmortem specimens from accident victims are submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) for toxicological analysis. As new medications are introduced to the market and are subsequently used by aviation accident victims, CAMI's forensic toxicology laboratory is tasked with developing analytical methods for the determination of these compounds. This report presents a rapid and reliable method for the identification and quantitation of vardenafil (Levitra\uae) in biological specimens. This procedure utilizes sildenafil-d8, which structurally is closely related to vardenafil, as an internal standard for more accurate and reliable quantitation. The method incorporates solid phase extraction and LC/MS/MS and MS/MS/MS utilizing an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization ion trap mass spectrometer in the positive chemical ionization mode. Solid-phase extraction proved to be exceptionally efficient providing recoveries that ranged from 94-97%. The limit of detection for vardenafil was determined to be 0.19 ng/mL. The linear dynamic range for this compound was 0.39 \u2013 200 ng/mL. This method was successfully applied to postmortem fluid and tissue specimens obtained from an aviation accident victim. This novel analytical procedure proved to be simple, accurate, and robust for the identification and quantitation of vardenafil in postmortem specimens.121