{"title":"Combined Ethanol, Cocaine, Heroin and Methadone Abuse: a Deadly Mix, Review of the Literature","authors":"M. Akhgari, F. Jokar, L. Bahmanabadi","doi":"10.22038/APJMT.2020.17414","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Polysubstance use or abuse is defined as the ingestion or use of more than one drug of abuse within a defined time frame, aiming to enhance or modulate psychoactive effects, alleviate unwanted side effects of one substance and free access to different kinds of substances. Although deaths involving cocaine and other psychostimulants are increasing in many countries, it is not common in Iran due to the high price of cocaine due to a decrease in the supply chain to Iran. Case presentation: We report the case of a death due to polysubstance use. Analytical toxicology results were positive for cocaine, cocaethylene, morphine (heroin metabolite), and methadone in combination with positive blood and vitreous humor alcohol contents. The most significant histopathologic features were vascular hypertrophy, chronic myocardial ischemia, moderate to severe atherosclerosis, acute myocardial infarction, hemorrhagic pulmonary edema, diffuse alveolar collapse, micro-vesicular steatosis, focal hepatocyte necrosis, chronic hepatitis, and steatohepatitis. Discussion: polysubstance users mix drugs to reduce the negative effects of each drug. However, mixing recreational drugs is very dangerous. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics interactions in polysubstance users can produce health consequences leading to death. Conclusion: Results of this forensic case study increased attention to overdose mortality due to polydrug use.","PeriodicalId":30463,"journal":{"name":"Asia Pacific Journal of Medical Toxicology","volume":"9 1","pages":"165-169"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Asia Pacific Journal of Medical Toxicology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.22038/APJMT.2020.17414","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Polysubstance use or abuse is defined as the ingestion or use of more than one drug of abuse within a defined time frame, aiming to enhance or modulate psychoactive effects, alleviate unwanted side effects of one substance and free access to different kinds of substances. Although deaths involving cocaine and other psychostimulants are increasing in many countries, it is not common in Iran due to the high price of cocaine due to a decrease in the supply chain to Iran. Case presentation: We report the case of a death due to polysubstance use. Analytical toxicology results were positive for cocaine, cocaethylene, morphine (heroin metabolite), and methadone in combination with positive blood and vitreous humor alcohol contents. The most significant histopathologic features were vascular hypertrophy, chronic myocardial ischemia, moderate to severe atherosclerosis, acute myocardial infarction, hemorrhagic pulmonary edema, diffuse alveolar collapse, micro-vesicular steatosis, focal hepatocyte necrosis, chronic hepatitis, and steatohepatitis. Discussion: polysubstance users mix drugs to reduce the negative effects of each drug. However, mixing recreational drugs is very dangerous. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics interactions in polysubstance users can produce health consequences leading to death. Conclusion: Results of this forensic case study increased attention to overdose mortality due to polydrug use.
期刊介绍:
Asia Pacific Journal of Medical Toxicology (APJMT) aims to expand the knowledge of medical toxicology and tries to provide reliable information in this field for medical and healthcare professionals. APJMT mainly focuses on research related to medical toxicology issues in the Asia Pacific region and publishes articles on clinical and epidemiological aspects of toxicology, poisonings emergency care, addiction, drug interactions and adverse effects. The journal accepts and welcomes high quality papers in the form of original articles and rarely review articles, case reports and scientific letters relevant to medical practice in toxicology.