title: Acute 5-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (5-APB) intoxication and fatality: a case report with postmortem concentrations.
abstract: A 20-year-old man, a college student, became unresponsive in front of his girlfriend. He was known to consume alcohol and take an unknown drug at some point while in attendance at a local music festival earlier in the day/evening. Upon arrival of emergency personnel, he was noted to be asystolic and apneic. Despite aggressive medical intervention by emergency personnel and at a local hospital emergency room, he was pronounced deceased within 1.25 h of initial medical attention. Postmortem blood initially screened positive for methamphetamine by ELISA. An alkaline drug screen detected 5-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran (5-APB) which was subsequently confirmed and quantified by a specific GC-MS SIM analysis following solid-phase extraction. Concentrations were determined in the peripheral blood (2.5 mg/L), central blood (2.9 mg/L), liver (16 mg/kg), vitreous (1.3 mg/L), urine (23 mg/L) and gastric contents (6 mg). No other common amphetamine-like compound was detected, although 5-(2-aminopropyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (5-APDB) was presumptively identified in both peripheral blood and urine. Alcohol, the only other drug identified, was confirmed at a concentration of 0.02% (w/v).
authors.affiliation: County of San Diego Medical Examiner's Office, 5570 Overland Ave., Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92123, USA iain.mcintyre@sdcounty.ca.gov.
authors.forename: Iain M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: McIntyre
authors.affiliation: County of San Diego Medical Examiner's Office, 5570 Overland Ave., Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92123, USA.
authors.forename: Ray D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Gary
authors.affiliation: County of San Diego Medical Examiner's Office, 5570 Overland Ave., Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92123, USA.
authors.forename: Amber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trochta
authors.affiliation: County of San Diego Medical Examiner's Office, 5570 Overland Ave., Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92123, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stolberg
authors.affiliation: County of San Diego Medical Examiner's Office, 5570 Overland Ave., Suite 101, San Diego, CA 92123, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stabley
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000506:poisoning*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D001572:Benzofurans