Premium
Methadone‐Related Deaths – Epidemiological, Pathohistological, and Toxicological Traits in 10‐year Retrospective Study in Vojvodina, Serbia
Author(s) -
Mijatović Vesna,
Samojlik Isidora,
Ajduković Nikša,
ĐurendićBrenesel Maja,
Petković Stojan
Publication year - 2014
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 - 10.1111/1556-4029.12425
Subject(s) - epidemiology , methadone , medicine , retrospective cohort study , poison control , injury prevention , emergency medicine , environmental health , psychiatry , surgery
The number of methadone‐related deaths ( MRD s) during a 10‐year period (2002–2011) in the region of V ojvodina, S erbia, was increased. The cases were evaluated according to epidemiological parameters, pathohistological findings, and toxicological screening. The majority of victims were men, aged from 20 to 38. Pathohistologically, the signs of acute focal myocardial damage were present in the heart of victims with drug abuse history shorter than 2 years, while both signs of recent and chronic focal myocardial damage were developed among victims with longer drug abuse history (2–5 years). In postmortem blood samples of 54.84% of victims, methadone was detected in combination with diazepam, both in therapeutic range. Alcohol was absent in most cases. Other detected drugs were antipsychotics and antidepressants in therapeutic concentrations. These findings raise the attention to the concomitant use of methadone and benzodiazepines with the need for further studies to clarify the mechanism of death in such cases.