title: Detection of the calcium antagonist nicardipine and its metabolites by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikegaya
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakurada
authors.forename: Hisako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeichi
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Hirotaro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwase
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D011725:Pyridines; D009529:Nicardipine; C023666:pyridine