title: Clinical and analytical problems of sodium azide poisonings as exemplified by a case of fatal suicidal poisoning.
abstract: To present clinical and analytical aspects associated with sodium azide poisoning. The problems were verified on the basis of a case of sodium azide poisoning which was unique due to its circumstances and the development of an analytical method applied for medico-legal practice.
  
  
  
  The object of the study was a toxicological analysis of biological specimens collected from a woman who ingested two doses of sodium azide purchased over the Internet, in a suicide attempt. After the ingestion of the first dose, the clinical management in the form of symptomatic treatment indicated a possibility of recovery. However, the ingestion of a second dose of the xenobiotic, already in the hospital, caused death. Toxicological findings were obtained with the dedicated technique of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS-MS) after extraction combined with derivatization using pentafluorobenzyl bromide (PFBBr).
  
  
  
  Post-mortem toxicological studies demonstrated sodium azide in the blood (0.18 mg/l) and urine (6.50 mg/l) samples collected from the woman.
  
  
  
  Cases of sodium azide poisoning are rare and difficult to treat, but a review of the literature over a longer interval of time shows that they continue to occur. Therefore, case studies of sodium azide poisoning, together with descriptions of research methodology, can be useful both in clinical terms and in the preparation of toxicological expert opinions for medico-legal purposes.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rojek
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hydzik
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gomółka
authors.affiliation: Karol Kula, Chair and Department of Forensic Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Grzegórzecka 16, 31-531 Krakow, Poland, e-mail: karol.kula@uj.edu.pl.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kula
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kłys
mesh_terms: D000138:Acidosis / Q000139:chemically induced; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019810:Sodium Azide / Q000097:blood* / Q000506:poisoning*; D013405:Suicide
chemical_list: D019810:Sodium Azide