title: Sudden unexpected death under acute influence of cannabis.
abstract: The acute toxicity of cannabinoids is said to be low and there is little public awareness of the potentially hazardous cardiovascular effects of cannabis, e.g. marked increase in heart rate or supine blood pressure. We describe the cases of two young, putative healthy men who died unexpectedly under the acute influence of cannabinoids. To our knowledge, these are the first cases of suspected fatal cannabis intoxications where full postmortem investigations, including autopsy, toxicological, histological, immunohistochemical and genetical examinations, were carried out. The results of these examinations are presented. After exclusion of other causes of death we assume that the young men experienced fatal cardiovascular complications evoked by smoking cannabis.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany. Electronic address: benno.hartung@med.uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hartung
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kauferstein
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ritz-Timme
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Duesseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Daldrup
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology*; D002311:Cardiomyopathy, Dilated / Q000473:pathology*; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000473:pathology; D003328:Coronary Thrombosis / Q000473:pathology; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D009211:Myoglobin
keywords: Acute intoxication; Cannabis; Cardiovascular events; Hypertensive crisis