Abstract
A fatal case of butyrfentanyl poisoning was investigated at the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine. At admission at the institute approx. 9h after death (first time point, t1), femoral and heart blood (right ventricle) was collected, as well as samples from the lung, liver, kidney, spleen, muscle and adipose tissue using computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy sampling. At autopsy (t2), samples from the same body regions were collected manually. Additionally, urine, heart blood (left ventricle), gastric content, brain samples and hair were collected. Butyrfentanyl concentrations and relative concentrations of the metabolites carboxy-, hydroxy-, nor-, and desbutyrfentanyl were determined by LCMS/MS and LC-QTOF. At t1, butyrfentanyl concentrations were 66ng/mL in femoral blood, 39ng/mL in heart blood, 110ng/g in muscle, 57ng/g in liver, 160ng/g in kidney, 3100ng/g in lung, 590ng/g in spleen and 550ng/g in adipose tissue. At t2, butyrfentanyl concentration in urine was 1100ng/mL, in gastric content 2000ng/mL, in hair 11,000pg/mg and brain concentrations ranged between 200340ng/g. Carboxy- and hydroxybutyrfentanyl were identified as most abundant metabolites. Comparison of t1 and t2 showed a concentration increase of butyrfentanyl in femoral blood of 120%, in heart blood of 55% and a decrease in lung of 30% within 19h. No clear concentration changes could be observed in the other matrices. Postmortem concentration changes were also observed for the metabolites. In conclusion, butyrfentanyl seems to be prone to postmortem redistribution processes and concentrations in forensic death cases should be interpreted with caution.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.