title: Seven cases of fatal aconite poisoning: forensic experience in China.
abstract: This paper presents seven fatal cases of aconite poisoning encountered in the Tongji Center for Medicolegal Expertise in Hubei (TCMEH), China, from 1999 to 2008 retrospectively. In six of the cases, deaths occurred after drinking homemade medicated liquor containing aconite, and in one case death was due to ingestion of traditional Chinese medication containing aconite. Forensic autopsy and pathological examinations ruled out the presence of physical trauma or life-threatening diseases. Diagnosis of aconite poisoning was made after postmortem toxicological analysis. Animal experiment was performed in one case demonstrating that the medicated liquor could cause death rapidly. We present the autopsy and histopathological findings, toxicological analysis, and results of animal experiment done on samples from those seven cases. As an important herbal Chinese medicine, Aconitum species deserve special attention, especially because it contains poisonous alkaloids.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Hangkong Road 13#, Wuhan 430030, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Luo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shaohua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ananda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sunnassee
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D031841:Aconitum / Q000506:poisoning*; D000328:Adult; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D002681:China; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000506:poisoning*; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D010939:Plant Poisoning / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012494:Sampling Studies
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal