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Fatal Intoxications in a Forensic Autopsy Material from Epirus, Greece, During the Period 1998‐2010
Author(s) -
Boumba Vassiliki A.,
Georgiadis Minas,
Mirescu Nikolae,
Vougiouklakis Theodore
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12014
Subject(s) - medicine , accidental poisoning , poison control , carbon monoxide poisoning , accidental , population , toxicology , forensic toxicology , autopsy , cause of death , injury prevention , emergency medicine , environmental health , chemistry , biology , chromatography , physics , acoustics , disease
In this retrospective study, we report the epidemiological characteristics of all poisoning deaths in E pirus, G reece, from 1998 to 2010; we present the toxicological findings and the statistical evaluation of the results. This is the first detailed scientific report on all the officially certified poisoning deaths concerning part of the G reek population. A total of 126 poisoning fatalities were recorded, 67 of them being mono‐intoxications (53.2%). The cause of poisoning was as follows: drugs of abuse (60%); carbon monoxide (19.8%); pesticides (9.5%); corrosives (4.8%); pharmaceuticals (4.8%); and spider bite (0.8%). The most frequently detected poisonous substances were as follows: heroin (65 cases), ethanol (55), benzodiazepines (42), carbon monoxide (25), cocaine (17), cannabinoids (17) and pesticides (12). Increasing tendency in poisoning death rates was recorded, due to an increase in accidental poisoning deaths attributed mainly to drugs of abuse (total, accidental, and drugs‐of‐abuse poisoning death rates per 100,000 inhabitants per year were 1.87, 1.19, and 0.79, respectively, in the period 1998–2002 and 3.97, 3.41, and 2.55, respectively, in the period 2007–2010).