heroin and Hemorrhage

Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anticoagulants; Antihypertensive Agents; Bleomycin; Busulfan; Chlorpropamide; Cyclophosphamide; Hemorrhage; Heroin; Humans; Hydrochlorothiazide; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Inhalation; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Lipids; Lung; Lung Diseases; Methotrexate; Methysergide; Nitrofurantoin; Phenytoin; Pulmonary Edema

A 47-year-old woman with a long-term history of intravenous heroin use was found dead lying on the couch in a pool of blood with the wound in her right groin, 15 × 4 mm in diameter. The autopsy revealed the thickened superficial right femoral artery wall and the tract communication between the artery lumen and the skin surface, with pseudoaneurysm formation, confirmed by microscopic examination. Toxicological findings were negative for heroin and its metabolites. The cause of death was fatal blood loss from ruptured chronic femoral pseudoaneurysm. Persons with a long-term history of intravenous drug use experience injection-related problems: prominent vein scarring, lumps, and swelling. The risk of injecting the groin is substantially greater than in typical areas such as the cubital fossa. The proximity of the femoral vein to the femoral artery and nerve poses the risk of accidental trauma to these sites. Accidental groin arterial injections can cause a tear in the arterial wall, on which a pseudoaneurysm can develop. A false or pseudoaneurysm is a breach in the vascular wall leading to an extravascular hematoma that freely communicates with the intravascular space. In the presented case, the autopsy findings pointed out that the fatal blood loss from femoral pseudoaneurysm rupture occurred probably after trivial trauma (shortly after sexual intercourse) or even spontaneously, and not immediately or shortly after arterial drug injection.

Topics: Aneurysm, False; Drug Users; Female; Femoral Artery; Groin; Hemorrhage; Heroin; Humans; Middle Aged; Rupture; Wounds, Stab

Intravenous drug users (IDUs) eventually encounter a common problem- a need to turn to a new vessel to inject drugs. Whether it is because no other spot is available due to scarring or convenience, the groin is the preferred spot for some. Chronic puncture of femoral vessels can lead to a rare but significant complication- femoral artery pseudoaneurysm (FAP). Its fatal consequence- rupture and bleeding is well recognized, but the forensic literature on this subject is limited. We present eight cases of exsanguination due to the ruptured FAP in IDUs who share most or all the following characteristics: long-term heroin use and/or pronounced drug use stigmata, chronic groin injection-related lesions, absence of significant precipitating pseudoaneurysm trauma, and no or minimal concentrations of heroin metabolites in blood. The FAP presentation varied greatly, from palpable fist-sized mass or slight elevation under the skin defect to infundibular arterio-cutaneous fistula that ruptured through the skin induration. In some, surrounding skin or soft tissue showed signs of inflammation but without suppuration. The most prominent FAP characteristic was smooth-surface cavitation on cross-sections. We performed microscopic evaluation in two cases and verified disruption of the artery wall (i.e., pseudoaneurysm) with elements of acute and chronic inflammation and fibrosis; foci of fibrinoid necrosis were noticed on the arterial wall. All subjects were pale, with faint hypostasis and organ anemia, consistent with reported massive hemorrhage. Because such sudden, unwitnessed, and suspicious deaths may raise the question of injury infliction, proper autopsy evaluation is crucial, for which we propose guidelines.

Topics: Aneurysm, False; Exsanguination; Femoral Artery; Groin; Hemorrhage; Heroin; Humans; Inflammation; Rupture; Substance Abuse, Intravenous

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a clinical syndrome characterized by pulmonary hemorrhage, respiratory failure, and high early mortality rates. DAH typically appears on chest radiographs as bilateral parenchymal consolidations. To our knowledge, pulmonary hemorrhage associated with heroin overdose has not been reported. We report the clinical and radiographic findings in two cases of acute DAH following heroin overdose. We speculate that an adulterating agent may be the underlying etiology in these cases. While pulmonary edema as a consequence of heroin overdose is well-documented and usually first suspected when consolidations are present on a chest radiograph in a patient with a history of recent heroin use, we believe that DAH should also be considered in the proper clinical context.

Topics: Adult; Drug Overdose; Hemorrhage; Heroin; Humans; Lung Diseases; Male

Pulmonary edema complicating heroin overdosage is a well recognized entity and regarded as the major mechanism contributing to death in heroin addicts. It's pathogenesis is unknown, several mechanisms are discussed: hypoxia-induced increase of pulmonary capillary permeability, depressed myocardial contractility, centrally induced respiratory depression, primary toxic effects on the alveolar capillaries and acute anaphylactic shock. The present study included opiate-related deaths (n=23) and a control group of sudden cardiovascular deaths (n=12) to verify the hypothesis, that defects of the alveolar capillary membranes and/or an acute anaphylactic reaction leads to pulmonary congestion, edema and hemorrhages. Lung specimens were obtained from these 35 autopsies of persons autopsied in the Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bonn, in 1997 and 1998. All specimens were examined with hematoxylin-eosin, prussian blue and investigated with immunohistological methods using primary antibodies against collagen IV, laminin and IgE. Defects of the basal laminae of the alveoli were found, demonstrated by laminin and collagen IV, and the number of IgE-positive cells was counted in both groups. There was an increased but not significant number of IgE-positive cells in the heroin-group and defects of the epithelial and endothelial basal laminae were found in both groups without significant differences.

Topics: Anaphylaxis; Antibodies; Basement Membrane; Capillaries; Capillary Permeability; Cause of Death; Collagen; Coloring Agents; Death, Sudden, Cardiac; Drug Overdose; Endothelium, Vascular; Epithelial Cells; Female; Hemorrhage; Heroin; Heroin Dependence; Humans; Hypoxia; Immunoglobulin E; Immunohistochemistry; Laminin; Male; Myocardial Contraction; Narcotics; Pulmonary Alveoli; Pulmonary Edema; Respiration

To investigate the possible causes of unexplained hemorrhage into the neck musculature in deaths due to drowning, all cases of drowning between the years 1985 and 1995 examined by members of the Department of Forensic Pathology, University of Sheffield were reviewed. Cases were selected in which hemorrhage was found within the neck musculature but in which no apparent explanation for the hemorrhage, such as compression of the neck or trauma, was present. Eight cases were identified from a total of 99 deaths from drowning. Postmortem hypostasis was distributed in the back or diffusely in 6 cases and in the face in 3 cases. The degree of decomposition varied but was severe in only 1 case. A raised blood alcohol level was detected in 3 cases. Anterior neck compartment hemorrhage is probably due to hypostasis in a high proportion of cases. The Prinsloo and Gordon artifact may be an operative factor in at least some cases. Hemorrhage may result from violent neck movements during the process of drowning. Apparent "bruising" of the neck musculature does not always indicate compression of or trauma to the neck.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Depressive Disorder; Drowning; Ethanol; Hemorrhage; Heroin; Humans; Middle Aged; Muscular Diseases; Neck Muscles; Prevalence

Topics: Adult; Anemia, Hypochromic; Chronic Disease; Female; Hemorrhage; Heroin; Heroin Dependence; Humans; Injections, Intra-Arterial; Injections, Intravenous; Methods