Timely Antemortem and Postmortem Concentrations in a Fatal Carbamazepine Overdose
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Richard D. Carlisle; Henry A. Spiller
- Source
- Journal of Forensic Sciences. 46:15182J
- Subject
- Drug concentration
business.industry
Anesthesia
Genetics
medicine
Carbamazepine
business
Pathology and Forensic Medicine
medicine.drug
Time of death
- Language
- ISSN
- 0022-1198
There are no published reports that include both timely antemortem and postmortem carbamazepine concentrations after massive overdose. We report a fatal overdose of carbamazepine with both timely antemortem and postmortem carbamazepine concentrations. Carbamazepine concentrations were 47.7 mcg/mL 2 h antemortem and 53 mcg/mL at 9 h postmortem. The slight rise in drug concentration may reflect continued absorption of the drug in the last 2 h before death. Postmortem carbamazepine concentrations drawn from a peripheral vessel in this patient appeared to reflect drug concentrations at the time of death.