Detection of drugs-of-abuse in meconium of a stillborn baby and in stool of a deceased 41-day-old infant.
When blood or urine is unavailable, postmortem meconium or stool from infants or stillbirths can be used to detect drugs-of-abuse, thus providing datum in assessing drug-abuse exposure. Two case reports illustrate how drugs-of-abuse findings in post-mortem specimens were used to substantiate exposure prior to death or a history of maternal drug abuse. The first, a congenital hydrocephalus, born to a non-drug abusing mother, expired at the age of 41 days, had opiates in the stool by screening method, enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique, confirmed by gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis. Investigation revealed that morphine had been administered for three days prior to death. The second was a stillbirth infant born to a drug abuser. Almost equal amounts of benzoylecgonine were found in different bowel segments, a finding consistent with admitted cocaine use throughout pregnancy.
Moriya
F
F
Department of Legal Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Japan.
Chan
K M
KM
Noguchi
T T
TT
Parnassus
W N
WN
D000328:Adult; D003042:Cocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008470:Meconium / Q000737:chemistry*; D009020:Morphine / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011247:Pregnancy; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders
C005618:benzoylecgonine; D009020:Morphine; D003042:Cocaine