Detection of the calcium antagonist nicardipine and its metabolites by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
An 89-year-old male patient, hospitalized with Parkinson's syndrome, suddenly died shortly after an intravenous drug injection. The conditions indicated that an overdose of nicardipine (1.3 mg/(mlkg)) may be given to the patient. At the autopsy, no pathological changes were noted. With a capillary gas chromatograph with mass spectrometer (GC-MS), nicardipine (4.97 microg/ml) and its pyridine metabolite (M-5, 5.0 microg/ml) were detected in the heart blood of the deceased. This result indicated that an overdose of intravenous nicardipine caused a sudden death of a patient in a poor condition.
Ikegaya
Hiroshi
H
Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. ikegaga-tky@umin.ac.jp
Kobayashi
Masahiko
M
Sakurada
Koichi
K
Takeichi
Hisako
H
Yoshida
Ken-ichi
K
Iwase
Hirotaro
H
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology; D062787:Drug Overdose; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009529:Nicardipine / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning; D011725:Pyridines / Q000097:blood
D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D011725:Pyridines; D009529:Nicardipine; C023666:pyridine