Head injuries, pentobarbital, and the determination of death.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office in San Antonio, Texas, has encountered 3 cases within a 15-month period involving decedents who were pronounced dead by brain death or cardiac death examination and who had elevated, if not toxic concentrations of pentobarbital present at the time of examination. The elevated levels of pentobarbital were discovered during an autopsy examination performed for medicolegal reasons. The diagnosis of brain death and the implications of pentobarbital intoxication during a brain death examination are discussed.
Molina
D Kimberley
DK
Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA. kmolina@bexar.org
McCutcheon
J R
JR
Rulon
Jennifer J
JJ
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001926:Brain Death / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003128:Coma / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D016489:Head Injuries, Closed / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000097:blood* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019586:Intracranial Hypertension / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000097:blood* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D010424:Pentobarbital