title: An autopsy case of poisoning with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine.
abstract: A female in her twenties was found dead in her room. She had received medications for depression and panic disorder, and had attemped suicide several times. Many packets of prescribed drugs, including paroxetine, were found near the corpse. At autopsy, the lungs were edematous. The organs were slightly congested with putrefactive change. Autolytic rupture, considered as gastromalasia, was observed in the anterior cardiac portion of stomach wall. Toxicological examination revealed 0.78, 3.20 and 17.63 microg/ml of paroxetine in the heart blood, femoral blood and urine, respectively. Acetaminophen and phenobarbital were also identified within therapeutic or sub-lethal levels. Taking into consideration postmortem diffusion of drugs, we evaluated postmortem data and concluded that the death was mainly due to toxicity of paroxetine with serotonin syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Japan. gengring@hyo-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takahashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Motonori
authors.forename: Kinoshita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hiroshi
authors.forename: Kuse
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Azumi
authors.forename: Morichika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mai
authors.forename: Nishiguchi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minori
authors.forename: Ouchi
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Harumi
authors.forename: Minami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takako
authors.forename: Matsui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiyoshi
authors.forename: Yamamura
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takehiko
authors.forename: Motomura
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hiroyuki
authors.forename: Ohtsu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nao
authors.forename: Yoshida
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shie
authors.forename: Adachi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nobuyuki
authors.forename: Ueno
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yasuhiro
authors.forename: Hishida
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shigeru
authors.forename: Nishio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hajime
mesh_terms: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000506:poisoning*; D001344:Autopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000506:poisoning*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000506:poisoning*; D013405:Suicide; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D017374:Paroxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors