%0 Journal Article
%T Volatile lipophilic substances management in case of fatal sniffing
%J Journal of forensic and legal medicine
%D 2017
%A Romolo, Francesco Saverio
%A di Luca, Natale Mario
%A Ciallella, Costantino
%A Bottoni, Edoardo
%A Fiore, Paola Antonella
%A Cappelletti, Simone
%A Giuliani, Nicole
%A Augsburger, Marc
%A Varlet, Vincent
%V 52
%N 
%P 35-39
%X Death due to inhalation of aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butane and propane is a particularly serious problem worldwide, resulting in several fatal cases of sniffing these volatile substances in order to "get high". Despite the number of cases published, there is not a unique approach to case management of fatal sniffing. In this paper we illustrate the volatile lipophilic substances management in a case of a prisoner died after sniffing a butane-propane gas mixture from prefilled camping stove gas canisters, discussing the comprehensive approach of the crime scene, the autopsy, histology and toxicology. A large set of accurate values of both butane and propane was obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyzing the following post-mortem biological samples: peripheral blood, heart blood, vitreous humor, liver, lung, heart, brain/cerebral cortex, fat tissue, kidney, and allowed an in depth discussion about the cause of death. A key role is played by following the proper sampling approach during autopsy.<br><br>Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I Elsevier Publishing
%@ 1752-928X
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2017.08.005