Sudden death due presumably to internal use of methamphetamine.
A 26-year-old male was found naked and excited in the backyard of his neighbor's house. He was carried to a nearby hospital, and returned home with his family, but took a sudden turn for the worse and died. In a judicial autopsy, the ethanol concentration of blood was found to be 0.58 milligrams, and methamphetamine (MA) was detected in his blood by thin-layer chromatography. The concentration of MA in his blood was 4.38 mumol/dl, higher than the fatal level. The amount of MA in his stomach was 5.8 mg (34.58 mumol/100 g), indicating that he ingested MA by internal use. Among the autopsy cases of acute MA poisoning reported in Japan, hyperesthesia is known to last 1-3 h before death, whether the administration is by intravenous injection or orally. But the present case is quite unusual, as the death followed 6 h or more of hyperesthesia. This was attributed to the patient's combined intake of alcohol with MA, as it is known to decrease the mortality in mice.
Katsumata
S
S
Department of Legal Medicine, Tokyo Ika Shika University School of Medicine, Japan.
Sato
K
K
Kashiwade
H
H
Yamanami
S
S
Zhou
H
H
Yonemura
I
I
Nakajima
H
H
Hasekura
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008694:Methamphetamine / Q000506:poisoning*; D011041:Poisoning / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000652:urine
D000431:Ethanol; D008694:Methamphetamine