Titre du document / Document title

Alcohol and benzodiazepines in fatal poisonings

Auteur(s) / Author(s)

KOSKI Anna ⁽¹⁾ ; OJANPERÄ Ilkka ⁽¹⁾ ; VUORI Erkki ⁽¹⁾ ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)

⁽¹⁾ Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, FINLANDE

Résumé / Abstract

Background: Postmortem forensic toxicology frequently finds alcohol both alone and in combination with drugs. Although benzodiazepines are generally considered safe, they are considered dangerous with alcohol. Methods: A retrospective statistical analysis of alcohol and benzodiazepine concentrations in postmortem blood samples included 808 cases diagnosed as fatal alcohol or drug intoxication involving (1) ethanol alone; (2) ethanol with temazepam; or (3) ethanol with any combination of diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, and nordazepam. Results: The median concentration of ethanol was 3.3‰ in cases with ethanol alone and 3.5‰ when diazepam was present, but it was significantly lower, only 2.5‰, when temazepam was present in the blood. Furthermore, the median concentration of ethanol was 2.2‰ in cases with high concentrations (>0.9 mg/liter) of temazepam and 2.7‰ in cases with therapeutic (≤0.9 mg/liter) concentrations. Conclusions: Diazepam and chlordiazepoxide pose a smaller risk of death by poisoning than does temazepam when given as a hypnotic to patients suffering from alcoholism.

Revue / Journal Title

Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research   ISSN 0145-6008   CODEN ACRSDM 

Source / Source

2002, vol. 26, n^o7, pp. 956-959 (21 ref.)

Langue / Language

Anglais

Editeur / Publisher

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD, ETATS-UNIS  (1977) (Revue)

Mots-clés anglais / English Keywords

Postmortem ; Benzodiazepine derivatives ; Ethanol ; Nordazepam ; Drug alcohol interaction ; Toxicity ; Poisoning ; Human ; Chlordiazepoxide ; Diazepam ; Temazepam ;

Mots-clés français / French Keywords

Postmortem ; Benzodiazépine dérivé ; Ethanol ; Nordazépam ; Interaction alcool médicament ; Toxicité ; Intoxication ; Homme ; Chlordiazépoxide ; Diazépam ; Témazépam ;

Mots-clés espagnols / Spanish Keywords

Postmortem ; Benzodiazepina derivado ; Etanol ; Nordazepam ; Interacción alcohol medicamento ; Toxicidad ; Intoxicación ; Hombre ; Clordiazepóxido ; Diazepam ; Temazepam ;

Localisation / Location

INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 17114, 35400010893965.0020