Search

Volatile Solvents Abuse (VSA) poses major health risks, especially for young people and those living in precarious socio-economic conditions. Such substances can in fact bring about psychoactive effects such as euphoria, and even lead to sudden death from cardiac arrhythmias, respiratory depression, myocardial infarction, laryngospasm, encephalopathy, and rhabdomyolysis. The present case report is centered around a 23-year-old man who died in prison due to inhalation of a cooker gas mixture (n-butane, propane, and isobutane) inside a plastic bag. External examination and autopsy showed non-specific signs of asphyxia associated with edema and brain swelling. Histological signs of early myocardial damage and hypoxic-ischemic injury (HII) were highlighted in the brain and cerebellum, as well as activated macrophages and anthracotic-like material in the lungs. Toxicological investigations revealed the presence of propane, isobutane and n-butane in liquids and biological samples. Besides the cardiotoxic effect, there was an asphyctic component due to the plastic bag that may have facilitated death. The assessment of cerebral HII and cardiopulmonary damage in acute cases is very important to prove death by butane inhalation. In the forensic field, it may be useful to shed more light on intoxications, deaths, and butane encephalopathies, as the latter can be mistaken for a hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors certify that there is no conflict of interest with any financial organization regarding the material discussed in the manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of our study was to discuss the epidemiological features of self-poisoning suicide in Northern Tunisia., Methods: We conducted a retrospective, descriptive and cross-sectional study, including all the cases of fatal self-poisoning suicide occurring between January 2005 and December 2015., Results: In the study period, 204 cases of self-poisoning suicide occurred in northern Tunisia, with a prevalence of 0.44 cases/100 000 inhabitants/year. Among these cases, 59% were females (the sex ratio was 0.69). The mean age was 34 ± 15.3 years-old. The most common age group of the victims (28.4%) was between 20 and 29 years old. Victims were unemployed in 45% of cases and single at the time of suicide in 52%. None of the victims left a suicide note. Self-poisonings were due to the ingestion of drugs (52.5%), pesticides (42.6%), caustic products (5.5%) and Butane gas (1 case)., Conclusions: Fatal casualties of self-poisoning in Tunisia are frequently young, single, unemployed women. This pattern would allow planning of targeted preventive measures., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.)

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 chromatography-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., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Although less widespread than twenty years ago, inhalant abuse remains an on-going problem, whose incidence among U.S. teenagers and young adults ranges from 10 to 15%. Death due to the inhalation of vapor from halogenated hydrocarbons is a well-known phenomenon, yet few cases of fatal butane-gas poisoning have been described. Many cases of volatile substance abuse in prison populations have been reported: drug-addicted inmates often resort to this alternative practice when unable to get their habitual drugs of abuse. A similar pattern occurs especially among adolescents. The study herein described was conducted including all cases of fatal acute intoxication of butane gas examined from 2007 to 2015 at the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of the University of Genoa. In the absence of overt and specific macroscopic and histological findings indicating cause and pathological mechanism of death, we aimed to assess whether recent cardiac lesions were detectable by way of immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Specifically, fibronectin and troponin C expression in myocardial tissues were investigated in deaths from acute butane-gas poisoning so as to better define the underlying pathological mechanisms. IHC findings were indicative of hypoxic cardiac damage. In all cases, positivity to fibronectin and mildly to moderately reduced troponin C expression in cardiac muscle cells were immunohistochemically ascertained., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.)