title: Pancuronium bromide (Pavulon) isolation and identification in aged autopsy tissues and fluids.
abstract: The isolation and detection of pancuronium bromide was developed for aged autopsy samples to identify and confirm this compound in questioned tissue samples. A novel protocol was optimized for the isolation of the target drug in highly decomposed tissues. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges containing styrene-divinylbenzene were investigated. This polymer retained quaternary drugs and facilitated sequential elution upon washing with commonly available solvents. The semi-purified SPE samples were prescreened by pyrolysis GC-MS. A candidate specimen was then confirmed by microbore high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray-ionization/mass spectrometry (microHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) with a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer. The developed procedures provided a qualitative or semiquantitative (at best) basis for the investigation of difficult cases involving overdoses of polar drugs.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Science Center, Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA.
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Andresen
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alcaraz
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Grant
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000379:methods; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000175:diagnosis; D049249:Exhumation; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000506:poisoning; D010197:Pancuronium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000506:poisoning; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012997:Solvents; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013997:Time Factors; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D018733:Nicotinic Antagonists; D012997:Solvents; D010197:Pancuronium