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Biomedical subjects

D J Trafford

Publications and source records attributed to D J Trafford.

56 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
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An apparent fatal overdose of terodiline.

The results of a forensic toxicological investigation on a young man with an unknown cause of death are reported here. Analysis revealed the presence of a possibly fatal level of terodiline in blood and urine. No other drugs were detected. Terodiline was detected by thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography and identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Quantification was carried out by a mass fragmentographic procedure using the m/z 100 from terodiline for selective ion monitoring (SIM). The blood and urine concentrations were found to be greater than 10 mg/L, whereas therapeutic concentrations in serum are usually not more than 1 mg/L. Support and confirmation of the laboratory results was provided at the subsequent inquest. It was revealed that the deceased had died from the inhalation of vomit due to an oral overdose of terodiline. To the best of our knowledge this is the first reported death due to fatal poisoning with terodiline in the United Kingdom.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Breath-alcohol concentration may not always reflect the concentration of alcohol in blood.

A case is described of a 37-year-old man who was breath tested by the U.K. police following a traffic accident and was found to have a breath-alcohol concentration of 70 micrograms/100 mL--twice the U.K. legal limit. The defendant protested vigorously that he had not consumed sufficient alcohol to account for this excessive reading, and Widmark calculations, assuming his account of the alcohol consumed was accurate, suggested his contention was possibly correct. No evidence was obtained suggesting that the Lion Intoximeter used for the breath analysis was anything other than accurate. Alcohol loading tests were therefore carried out in the laboratory on two separate occasions, showing that breath-alcohol concentrations grossly in excess of the legal limit (140 micrograms/100 mL) were obtained when the amount of alcohol administered would have been expected to give a theoretical maximum of 35 micrograms/100 mL. A blood sample taken at the point when the breath-alcohol concentration was 70 micrograms/100 mL was shown to contain 54 mg of alcohol/100 mL of blood. Dental examination of the defendant showed that he had had extensive work carried out, including three bridges. A possible explanation, therefore, for these anomalous results is that the excessive breath-alcohol concentrations might be due to mouth alcohol retained in the bridges or periodontal spaces, although a careful fraud by the subject of this report cannot be ruled out.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗