title: Swallowed opium packets: CT diagnosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to report our experience in diagnosis of the opium body packers with CT scan.
  
  
  METHODS
  For 12 cases who confessed to opium packet ingestion, we did an abdominal and pelvic CT scan without contrast and evaluated the presence, number and location of opium packets and also measured the density of packets in Hounsfield unit (HU).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age of our cases was 28.2 +/- 5.9 years (ranging 17-35 years). Eleven (91.6%) patients were male and only one case was female. In all patients, the packets were visualized in gastrointestinal (GI) lumen by CT scan. The mean of minimum HU was 163.8 +/- 19.6 and its maximum was 205.3 +/- 32.8. We had mortality in an 18-year-old female due to opium overdose.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CT scan could be a suitable imaging modality in identifying opium packets, similar to that reported for cocaine and heroin.
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Loghman Hakim Hospital, Shaheed Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, Iran. saneim@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Morteza Sanei
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Taheri
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hassanian-Moghaddam
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Birang
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hemadi
authors.forename: Makhtum
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahnazi
authors.forename: Amir Hossein
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Jalali
authors.forename: Madjid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shakiba
authors.forename: Vahideh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nahvi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D062787:Drug Overdose; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009892:Opium; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D009892:Opium