Volatile lipophilic substances management in case of fatal sniffing

作者：Romolo Francesco Saverio; di Luca Natale Mario; Ciallella Costantino; Bottoni Edoardo^*; Fiore Paola Antonella; Cappelletti Simone; Giuliani Nicole; Aug**urger Marc; Varlet Vincent

来源：Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 2017, 52: 35-39.

DOI：10.1016/j.jflm.2017.08.005

• Butane-propane poisoning
• Sudden sniffing death syndrome
• Cardiac arrhythmia
• Volatile substance abuse
• Forensic toxicology

Death due to inhalation of aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butane and propane is a particularly serious problem worldwide, resulting in several fatal cases of sniffing these volatile substances in order to "get high". Despite the number of cases published, there is not a unique approach to case management of fatal sniffing. In this paper we illustrate the volatile lipophilic substances management in a case of a prisoner died after sniffing a butane-propane gas mixture from prefilled camping stove gas canisters, discussing the comprehensive approach of the crime scene, the autopsy, histology and toxicology.
A large set of accurate values of both butane and propane was obtained by gas chromatographye-mass spectrometry analyzing the following post-mortem biological samples: peripheral blood, heart blood, vitreous humor, liver, lung, heart, brain/cerebral cortex, fat tissue, kidney, and allowed an in depth discussion about the cause of death. A key role is played by following the proper sampling approach during autopsy.

• 出版日期2017-11