Citation

Harada K, Ichiyama T, Ikeda H, Yoshida K. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 1999; 20(1): 84-89.

Affiliation

Department of Legal Medicine, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10208345

Abstract

A young woman committed suicide by ingesting benzine. We report the findings obtained at autopsy and the chemical analyses of the gastric contents, blood, and tissues in this case. Fatal concentrations of n-hexane, benzene, toluene and m-, p-xylene were detected. Pulmonary edema and hemorrhage were caused by the primary effect of the chemicals or secondarily by respiratory depression, suffocation due to volatile fluid, or heart failure. Mild hemorrhage around arterioles and venules in the brain cortex suggest hyperpermeability of the vessels. The fragmentation and waviness of the cardiac myofibrils indicate the presence of hypercontraction and possibly arrhythmia.

Language: en