TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1972//
TI  - Starch and talc emboli in drug addicts' lungs
JO  - Journal of clinical pathology
A1  - Lamb, D.
A1  - Roberts, G.
SP  - 876
EP  - 881
VL  - 25
IS  - 10
N2  - The lungs of eight drug addicts dying as a consequence of their habit have been examined. All showed the presence of small amounts of talc emboli and five the presence of starch emboli. Talc was invariably associated with a marked foreign body reaction which was insignificant in association with starch. Animal experiments showed very rapid (90% in 24 hours) removal of maize starch emboli; such rapid removal in man would explain the lack of a foreign body response. Quantitation of the amount of starch present in lungs from two of the cases gave values of 1.5 and 5.2 g. The higher amount could have been a contributory factor in the sudden death of the addict. The amounts of talc seen were not sufficient to be of clinical significance.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0021-9746
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -