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Nitrous Oxide Determination in Postmortem Biological Samples: A Case of Serial Fatal Poisoning in a Public Hospital *
Author(s) -
Poli Diana,
GaglianoCandela Roberto,
Strisciullo Giuseppe,
Colucci Anna P.,
Strada Luigi,
Laviola Domenica,
Goldoni Matteo,
Mutti Antonio
Publication year - 2010
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/j.1556-4029.2009.01218.x
Subject(s) - nitrous oxide , asphyxia , urine , gas chromatography , biological fluids , oxygen , chromatography , postmortem changes , poison control , forensic toxicology , biological materials , chemistry , medicine , anesthesia , pathology , emergency medicine , biomedical engineering , organic chemistry
In a public hospital, eight cases of fatal poisoning by nitrous oxide (N 2 O) occurred under oxygen administration, due to an erroneous swapping of the lines in the gas system. The aim of the study was to clarify the factors involved in asphyxia by characterizing gases from different lines and measuring N 2 O concentrations in postmortem biological samples from bodies exhumed. Analyses carried out on the gas system confirmed the erroneous substitution of O 2 line with N 2 O and air line with O 2 . Consequently, high N 2 O amounts were revealed in several tissues and gaseous biological samples. All specimens were analyzed by headspace gas chromatography technique. A rigorous quantitative analysis was possible only in blood (11.29–2152.04 mg/L) and urine (95.11 mg/L) and in air samples from stomach and trachea (from 5.28 to 83.63 g/m 3 ). This study demonstrates that N 2 O can be detected in biological samples even 1 month after death.