Quantification of fatal helium exposure following self-administration.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_2F425238DADE
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Case report (case report): feedback on an observation with a short commentary.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Quantification of fatal helium exposure following self-administration.
Journal
International Journal of Legal Medicine
Author(s)
Malbranque S., Mauillon D., Turcant A., Rouge-Maillart C., Mangin P., Varlet V.
ISSN
1437-1596 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0937-9827
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2016
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
130
Number
6
Pages
1535-1539
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: ARTICLEPublication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Helium is nontoxic at standard conditions, plays no biological role, and is found in trace amounts in human blood. Helium can be dangerous if inhaled to excess, since it is a simple tissue hypoxia and so displaces the oxygen needed for normal respiration. This report presents a fatal case of a middle-aged male victim who died from self-administered helium exposure. For the first time, the quantification of the helium levels in gastric and lung air and in blood samples was achieved using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after airtight sampling. The results of the toxicological investigation showed that death was caused directly by helium exposure. However, based on the pathomorphological changes detected during the forensic autopsy, we suppose that the fatal outcome was the result of the lack of oxygen after inhalation.
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
03/05/2016 12:46
Last modification date
20/08/2019 13:13
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