A Rare Case of Poisoning with a Volatile Substance: Quantitative Determination of n‐Butane in Postmortem Tissue

Hiquet, J.; Christin, E.; Tovagliaro, F.; Gaulier, Jean‐Michel; Dumestre-Toulet, Véronique; Gromb-Monnoyeur, S.

doi:10.1111/1556-4029.13302

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Two patients inhaled liquefied petroleum gas, a propane/butane gas mixture. To facilitate reading, data are summarized in Table 1 for survivors 8,13–22 and Table 2 for fatalities 1–4,14,15,18,20,23–43 . Patients were predominantly males (81%) aged between 11 and 70 years (mean age ± SD, 23 ± 13 years).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A two‐decade review of butane toxicity as a substance of abuse

Vahabzadeh

Mégarbane

2022

Basic Clin Pharma Tox

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Butane, an aliphatic hydrocarbon with explosive and flammable properties, is widely misused especially by young people. Acting as an asphyxiant gas, butane mainly targets the central nervous and cardiovascular systems. We aimed to review butane‐attributed toxicities due to its harmful use or misuse reported in a two‐decade period. We searched English‐language publications reporting butane toxicities from 2000 up to 2021 and collected data on age, gender, route and source of exposure, country of origin, clinical presentation and outcome. Among 54 butane's harmful use/misuse cases identified in the literature, there were 11 survivors successfully discharged from the hospital. Patients were predominantly males with a mean age ± SD of 23 ± 13 years. The main route of exposure was inhalation. Manifestations were mainly cardiac and neurological. Majority of the cases were reported from Europe and Japan. To conclude, butane exposure is at risk of severe central nervous system and cardiac toxicities, which may result in a fatal outcome. Therefore, in the event of a sudden or suspicious death in a young individual, our findings suggest that butane's harmful use/misuse should be considered as a potential differential diagnosis.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A two‐decade review of butane toxicity as a substance of abuse

Vahabzadeh

Mégarbane

2022

Basic Clin Pharma Tox

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“…1,3,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The post-mortem analysis of the effect of these gases on biological fluids and tissues is performed by gas chromatography (GC-MS, (HS)-GC-MS). 6,9,12 Case report Here, we report the case of a 30-year-old man of Belarusian origin found dead in his house (room temperature: 26 C). The body was in the kitchen, in a supine position with a black plastic bag wrapped around the head with a gas hose that passed through a hole in it, which had been connected to a domestic LPG cylinder tank.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1,3,5–11 The post-mortem analysis of the effect of these gases on biological fluids and tissues is performed by gas chromatography (GC-MS, (HS)-GC-MS). 6,9,12…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of ethanethiol in deaths from acute poisoning by gas mixtures: A suicide case involving a decomposed corpse and a review of the literature

et al. 2020

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The most common volatile substances used in suicide are liquefied petroleum gas mixtures, which consist of propane and butane gases mixed in different proportions. These substances are odourless and colourless. Some substances, such as ethanethiol, are added to liquefied petroleum gas mixtures to provide a garlic scent. The main causes of death in acute liquefied petroleum gas inhalation are cardiac arrest and asphyxia, but determining the manner of death is difficult. We present a case of a 30-year-old man found dead at home. On his head was a black plastic bag with a hole through which he had run a gas hose connected to a domestic liquefied petroleum gas cylinder tank. Toxicological analysis revealed butane and ethanethiol in his body. This study aims at understanding the lethal role of ethanethiol through the analysis of its chemical action and its influence on decomposition.

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“…Intoxication and death with gases is reported in many cases [7,11,12], either accidents or suicides. Gases such as nitrogen [13, 14], carbon monoxide [6,7], carbon dioxide [15,16], helium [8][9][10][11][12], air [4], butane [17], hydrogen sulfide [18-20], nitrous oxide [21] were reported as cause of death.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lethal Helium Intoxication. Determining the Context, Cause and Time of Death

Scripcaru¹,

Knieling²,

Manea³

et al. 2018

Rev. Chim.

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Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2, represented by the symbol He. It is an inert, colorless, odorless, insipid monoatomic gas. It has the lowest boiling point and the lowest melting point among the chemical elements and appears only in gaseous state, except for extreme conditions. The use of helium for suicidal purposes is extremely rare. In Romania, suicide has a frequency of 12 per 100,000 inhabitants, which classifies us in the category of countries with low suicide rates. As methods, men use hanging most often while women use more softer methods such as poisoning. Helium is rarely used for suicidal purposes because it is relatively difficult to obtain. Basically, it is not poisoning in the true sense of the word, but rather the substitution of oxygen with helium, which cannot be carried by hemoglobin, and thus transport asphyxia occurs. At the end of the paper we shall exemplify a case of helium poisoning for suicide purposes, purchased from a cylinder for inflating balloons.

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A Rare Case of Poisoning with a Volatile Substance: Quantitative Determination of n‐Butane in Postmortem Tissue

Cited by 4 publications

References 19 publications

A two‐decade review of butane toxicity as a substance of abuse

A two‐decade review of butane toxicity as a substance of abuse

The role of ethanethiol in deaths from acute poisoning by gas mixtures: A suicide case involving a decomposed corpse and a review of the literature

Lethal Helium Intoxication. Determining the Context, Cause and Time of Death

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