Fatal poisoning in the region of Epirus, Greece, during the period 1998–2004

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of acute poisoning deaths in the deprived region of Epirus, north-west Greece, as they were recorded among the autopsies performed at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Greece.

A retrospective study of the forensic records and the toxicological data of all autopsies performed over the period 1998–2004 revealed that 46 cases (2.9%) out of the 1582 total autopsies performed were attributed to acute fatal poisoning. The age range was from 16 to 94 years (mean ± SD = 46.20 ± 22.13). Substances of abuse were implicated in 22 cases (47.8%), pesticides in 9 cases (19.6%), gases in eight cases (17.4%), corrosives in 4 cases (8.7%), and prescription drugs in 3 cases (6.5%). There were 35 males (76.1%) and 11 females (23.9%) and the age range was 16–94 years (mean ± SD = 39.26 ± 19.00) and 16–93 years (mean ± SD = 63.36 ± 23.46) for males and females, respectively. Fourteen out of the 46 fatal poisonings were suicide (30.4%), 30 (69.6%) were accident, and 2 were uncertain cases. Pesticides were the most common poisons used for suicide purposes (64.3% of suicides). Drugs of abuse were implicated in the majority of accidental poisoning deaths (73.3%) and were recorded mainly for males (95.5%). The selected cases were classified according to ICD-9 codes.