title: Radiographic features of intracorporeally smuggled liquid cocaine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The radiological features of intracorporeally smuggled cocaine powder are well-established. Liquid cocaine is a novel method for intracorporeal drug smuggling. We describe radiological features of liquid cocaine on abdominal plain films and computerized tomographic (CT) scans and compare them to those of cocaine powder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five suspected cocaine smugglers (13 males, 12 females, average age 38 years) underwent abdominal plain film radiography for drug detection between 2010 and 2014. Ten of them also underwent a CT scan. Eight were found to be smuggling cocaine powder and 17 were found to be smuggling liquid cocaine. We identified two new imaging characteristics unique to intracorporeal liquid cocaine on both plain films and CT scans, and compared them to the radiological features of cocaine powder.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The radiological features of intraabdominal liquid cocaine packets on plain abdominal films (n = 17) were similar in opacity to bowel content and had an irregular shape that conformed to the intestinal contour. We identified what we termed "thin lucent lines" that were created by gas trapped between the packets. Four CT scans revealed that liquid cocaine was hyperdense compared to bowel content, that the packets had irregular shapes, and that the gas trapped between the packets formed a "jigsaw" pattern, a heretofore non-described finding that was present in all four scans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Liquid cocaine has several unique imaging features that assist its detection on abdominal plain film. A CT scan can assist detection in inconclusive cases by demonstrating hyperdense irregular packets of liquid cocaine and a "jigsaw" pattern of gas between them.
authors.affiliation: Sheba Medical Center, 52621, Tel-Hashomer, Israel, oshry.mozes@sheba.health.gov.il.
authors.forename: Oshry
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mozes
authors.forename: Larisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guranda
authors.forename: Orith
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Portnoy
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Apter
authors.forename: Eli
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Konen
authors.forename: Michal M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Amitai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003042:Cocaine; D064423:Drug Trafficking; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D007422:Intestines / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011208:Powders; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods*; D012996:Solutions; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011208:Powders; D012996:Solutions; D003042:Cocaine