title: Sudden death of a cocaine abuser.
abstract: We report an autopsy case of a 28-year-old male who died after intravenous use of cocaine. Cocaine and ecgonine methyl ester, the major metabolite of cocaine, were detected in the blood with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Postmortem examination showed contraction band necrosis together with patchy fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in the heart. The sudden death appeared to be caused by a cardiac disorder associated with arrhythmia or coronary vasoconstriction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mitsukuni
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yukawa
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matoba
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeichi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000150:complications; D003042:Cocaine / Q000097:blood; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D009336:Necrosis; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014661:Vasoconstriction
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine