@article{ref1,
title="Causes of death in hospitalized intravenous drug abusers",
journal="Journal of forensic sciences",
year="1990",
author="Klatt, E. C. and Mills, N. Z. and Noguchi, Thomas T.",
volume="35",
number="5",
pages="1143-1148",
abstract="The authors reviewed at autopsy the causes of death of 274 patients with evidence of intravenous drug abuse who had been admitted to a large public hospital. There were 127 who died from diseases unrelated to intravenous drug abuse, and in 41% of these, chronic alcoholism was implicated. Deaths from overdose syndromes and drug-related organ pathology comprised only 11% of all cases. The mean age at death was 39 years. There was a male/female ratio of 3.6:1. Half of all patients died from infection--72 from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) alone. These findings indicate that persons hospitalized with a history of intravenous drug abuse usually die from causes other than overdose and that AIDS and chronic alcoholism are significant problems. Emphasis should be placed upon detecting &quot;hidden&quot; intravenous drug deaths to provide more accurate statistical information.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0022-1198",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}