Citation

Sakai K, Saito K, Takada A, Hikiji W, Kikuchi Y, Fukunaga T. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2018; 39(1): 82-84.

Affiliation

From the *Tokyo Medical Examiner's Office, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo; †Department of Legal Medicine, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Tochigi; ‡Department of Forensic Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama; and §Department of Forensic Medicine, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PAF.0000000000000358

PMID

29095168

Abstract

Brotizolam is a short-acting hypnotic in the benzodiazepine family, and fatal poisonings by an overdose of brotizolam are rare. This report describes 4 cases of deaths associated with brotizolam poisoning from a single drug overdose. The ages ranged from 51 to 90 years, and the postmortem interval between death and tissue sampling was 1.5 to 2.5 days. These deaths were classified as 1 homicide and 3 suicides. The concentration of the brotizolam ranged from 0.05 to 0.21 mg/L in the blood samples. Ethanol, which could cause mild alcohol intoxication, was detected in the blood samples from 2 cases. Postmortem examinations did not find any significant pathologic conditions, except for a case of death by drowning in a bathtub due to brotizolam poisoning. These 4 cases suggest that a brotizolam overdose should not be underestimated in terms of its fatal effects, particularly when situations involve alcohol intoxication, injury subsequent to the poisoning, or underlying medical conditions including aging.

Language: en