title: Phencyclidine: a 5-year retrospective review from the New York City Medical Examiner's Office.
abstract: We report here a 5-year retrospective review of autopsy cases from the New York City Medical Examiner's Office that demonstrated phencyclidine (PCP) in the blood. There were a total of 138 cases. There were 52 deaths because of mixed drug intoxication: the blood PCP concentrations in these cases ranged from <1 to 598 ng/mL. There were 80 violent deaths in which PCP was quantified in the blood but was unrelated to the cause of death. There were five nonviolent deaths in which PCP exclusively was detected. In four of these, there were preexisting medical conditions that could also have contributed to death. In these, the highest PCP concentration was 361.3 ng/mL, a concentration lower than seven of the individuals in our violent death category. This suggests that lower concentrations may be fatal with comorbid conditions.
authors.affiliation: New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner and Department of Forensic Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. sderoux@ocme.nyc.gov
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: deRoux
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sgarlato
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000473:pathology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000032:analysis*; D006708:Homicide; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009294:Narcotics / Q000032:analysis; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D010622:Phencyclidine / Q000032:analysis*; D010623:Phencyclidine Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013405:Suicide; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000401:mortality
chemical_list: D006213:Hallucinogens; D009294:Narcotics; D010622:Phencyclidine