title: An Acute Ocfentanil Fatality: A Case Report with Postmortem Concentrations.
abstract: A 24-year-old man known to consume illegal drugs was found dead in his apartment. A reclosable plastic zipper bag containing several hundred milligrams of a brown powder was found close to the dead body and the first assumption of the investigators was death due to heroin intoxication. Therefore, a legal autopsy was ordered. The following toxicological analysis revealed ocfentanil in urine and in the brown powder. Four different approaches for the determination of the ocfentanil concentrations in peripheral whole blood are described. Enrichment of ocfentanil from the powder was realized. With this reference, it was possible to determine the ocfentanil concentration in the seized powder to be 0.91%. Concentrations of ocfentanil were also determined in the sampled body fluids using the standard addition procedure. In peripheral blood 9.1 µg/L, in heart blood 27.9 µg/L and in urine 480 µg/L were measured. In addition, the antidepressant citalopram, the neuroleptic quetiapine and cannabinoids were found in urine and subsequently quantified in peripheral blood.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Basel, Pestalozzistrasse 22, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland franz.dussy@bs.ch.
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Dussy
authors.affiliation: Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Basel, Pestalozzistrasse 22, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hangartner
authors.affiliation: Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Basel, Pestalozzistrasse 22, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hamberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry and Bioanalytics, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Gruendenstrasse 40, CH-4132 Muttenz, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berchtold
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry and Bioanalytics, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Gruendenstrasse 40, CH-4132 Muttenz, Switzerland.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Scherer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry and Bioanalytics, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Gruendenstrasse 40, CH-4132 Muttenz, Switzerland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schlotterbeck
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology and Legal Medicine, Canton Hospital Grisons, Loëstrasse 170, CH-7000 Chur, Switzerland.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wyler
authors.affiliation: Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology, Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Basel, Pestalozzistrasse 22, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Briellmann
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity / Q000652:urine; D001344:Autopsy; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000737:chemistry; D002138:Calibration / Q000592:standards; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity / Q000652:urine; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D015283:Citalopram / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity* / Q000652:urine; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity* / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D010880:Piperidines / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity* / Q000652:urine; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity / Q000652:urine; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002186:Cannabinoids; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D010880:Piperidines; D015283:Citalopram; D000069348:Quetiapine Fumarate; D000082:Acetaminophen; C071395:ocfentanil