An autopsy case of poisoning with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine

A female in her twenties was found dead in her room. She had received medications for depression and panic disorder, and had attemped suicide several times. Many packets of prescribed drugs, including paroxetine, were found near the corpse. At autopsy, the lungs were edematous. The organs were sligh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSoudni lekarstvi Vol. 55; no. 1; p. 2
Main Authors Motonori, Takahashi, Hiroshi, Kinoshita, Azumi, Kuse, Mai, Morichika, Minori, Nishiguchi, Harumi, Ouchi, Takako, Minami, Kiyoshi, Matsui, Takehiko, Yamamura, Hiroyuki, Motomura, Nao, Ohtsu, Shie, Yoshida, Nobuyuki, Adachi, Yasuhiro, Ueno, Shigeru, Hishida, Hajime, Nishio
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Czech Republic 01.01.2010
Subjects
Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation - poisoning
Autopsy
Female
Humans
Paroxetine - poisoning
Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors - poisoning
Suicide
Young Adult
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Summary:A female in her twenties was found dead in her room. She had received medications for depression and panic disorder, and had attemped suicide several times. Many packets of prescribed drugs, including paroxetine, were found near the corpse. At autopsy, the lungs were edematous. The organs were slightly congested with putrefactive change. Autolytic rupture, considered as gastromalasia, was observed in the anterior cardiac portion of stomach wall. Toxicological examination revealed 0.78, 3.20 and 17.63 microg/ml of paroxetine in the heart blood, femoral blood and urine, respectively. Acetaminophen and phenobarbital were also identified within therapeutic or sub-lethal levels. Taking into consideration postmortem diffusion of drugs, we evaluated postmortem data and concluded that the death was mainly due to toxicity of paroxetine with serotonin syndrome.
ISSN:0371-1854