Citation

Lunetta P, Kriikku P, Tikka J, Ojanperä I. Forensic Sci. Med. Pathol. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12024-020-00236-1

PMID

32219708

Abstract

We describe the sudden death of a middle-aged man while having a sauna under the influence of α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (α-PVP) (PM blood concentration: 0.8 mg/L), amphetamine (0.34 mg/L), and other drugs (buprenorphine, benzodiazepines), and engaging in solitary sexual activities. The drugs' effects on the cardio-circulatory system and on body thermoregulation combined with the high temperatures are likely to have been central mechanisms leading to death. The high levels of adrenaline triggered by sexual arousal and the respiratory depression caused by buprenorphine, in association with benzodiazepines, may have also contributed to his death. This previously unreported type of accidental autoerotic death illustrates the risk of using amphetamine-like sympathomimetic drugs (e.g. cathinone derivates) in hot environments such as a sauna, and during sexual activities therein.

Language: en

Keywords

Amphetamine; Autoerotic death; Contraction band necrosis; Hyperthermia; Sauna; α-PVP