title: Concentrations of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in femoral blood from cocaine-related deaths compared with venous blood from impaired drivers.
abstract: The concentrations of cocaine and its major metabolite benzoylecgonine (BZE) were determined in femoral blood from 132 cocaine-related deaths and compared with venous blood from 988 apprehended drivers. Cocaine and BZE were determined by solid-phase extraction and isotope dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with limits of quantitation of 0.02 mg/L for both substances. Significantly more men (95-98%) than women (2-5%) abused cocaine, although their mean age was about the same (29-30 years). Mean age (±SD) of cocaine-related deaths was 29 ± 7 years, which was not significantly different from 30 ± 8 years in traffic cases (P > 0.05). The median concentration of cocaine in blood in 61 fatalities was 0.10 mg/L compared with 0.06 mg/L in traffic cases (P < 0.001). In drug intoxication deaths, the median concentration of cocaine was 0.13 mg/L (N = 25), which was not significantly different from 0.09 mg/L (N = 36) in other causes of death. Cocaine-related deaths mostly involved mixed drug intoxications including co-ingestion of heroin, cannabis, amphetamines as well as legal drugs, such as benzodiazepines and/or ethanol. The concentrations of cocaine in blood from living and deceased persons overlapped, which makes it infeasible to predict toxicity from the analytical toxicology results alone.
authors: 1Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Artillerigatan 12, SE-587 58 Linköping, Sweden.
authors: Alan Wayne
authors: AW
authors: Jones
authors: Anita
authors: A
authors: Holmgren
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000662:Amphetamines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D001334:Automobile Driving; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D003042:Cocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality*; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D003932:Heroin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013048:Specimen Handling; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000662:Amphetamines; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D000431:Ethanol; C005618:benzoylecgonine; D003932:Heroin; D003042:Cocaine