Citation

Jacob B, Heller C, Daldrup T, Bürrig KF, Barz J, Bonte W. J. Forensic Sci. 1989; 34(6): 1408-1412.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine, Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, West Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2584946

Abstract

Among reported cases of abuse of volatile anesthetics there is only one of enflurane intoxication. We report another fatal enflurane intoxication. A 21-year-old man found dead seemed to have experimented with enflurane. Three and one-half days after death high amounts of enflurane were detected in blood, brain, and subcutaneous fat. Gas chromatographic quantification revealed the following high enflurane concentrations: blood: 130 mg/l-1, brain: 350 mg/l-1, and subcutaneous fat: 100 mg/l-1. Histologic signs of drug-induced damage were lacking. No suicide intentions became known. It was concluded that the young man died of an accidental intoxication while abusing enflurane.

Language: en