Popliteal Vein Blood Sampling and the Postmortem Redistribution of Diazepam,Methadone, and Morphine |
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| Authors: | Eric Lemaire MD Carl Schmidt MD Raphael Denooz PhD Corinne Charlier PhD Philippe Boxho MD PhD |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Forensic Medicine, Medico‐legal Institute of the University of Liège, Liège, Belgium;2. Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA;3. Medico‐legal Toxicology Laboratory, University Hospital ‐ C.H.U. Sart Tilman, B‐4000 Liège, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | Postmortem redistribution (PMR) refers to the site‐ and time‐related blood drug concentration variations after death. We compared central blood (cardiac and subclavian) with peripheral blood (femoral and popliteal) concentrations of diazepam, methadone, and morphine. To our knowledge, popliteal blood has never been compared with other sites. Intracardiac blood (ICB), subclavian blood (SB), femoral blood (FB), and popliteal blood (PB) were sampled in 30 cases. To assess PMR, mean concentrations and ratios were compared. Influence of postmortem interval on mean ratios was also assessed. Results show that popliteal mean concentrations were lower than those for other sites for all three drugs, even lower than femoral blood; mean ratios suggested that the popliteal site was less subject to PMR, and estimated postmortem interval did not influence ratios except for diazepam and methadone FB/PB. In conclusion, our study is the first to explore the popliteal site and suggests that popliteal blood is less prone to postmortem redistribution. |
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| Keywords: | forensic science forensic toxicology postmortem redistribution popliteal blood diazepam methadone morphine |
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