NCJ Number
164940
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 41 Issue: 6 Dated: (November 1996) Pages: 927-932
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The postmortem diffusion of gastric drug residue into tissues and blood in eight suicidal overdoses was evaluated, based on analyses of the liver, lung, spleen, psoas muscle and kidney, blood (peripheral and torso), vitreous pericardial fluid, bile, urine, and residual gastric contents.
Abstract
Standard analytical techniques and instrumentation gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer and high performance liquid chromatography were used throughout. The case studies confirmed previous studies of an animal and human cadaver model of gastric diffusion. In several instances, findings showed drug accumulation in the left posterior margin of the liver and to a lesser extent in the left basal lobe of the lung. Uncontrollable variables, such as postmortem interval, refrigeration before autopsy, and body position appeared to significantly influence drug accumulation in a specific site. The authors conclude that drug diffusion in a cadaver is an important and complex phenomenon that can affect a wide range of organs as well as blood. They suggest that pathologists formalize their toxicological sampling protocols at autopsy, that autopsy sampling techniques be standardized, that blood samples be obtained by needle puncture of the external iliac or femoral vein following proximal ligation/clamping at the start of the autopsy, that liver samples be obtained from deep within the right lobe, and that lung samples be taken from the apex rather than from basal lobes. 11 references and 7 tables