Original research
by
Darke, Shane et al
Release Date
2022
Geography
Australia
Language of Resource
English
Full Text Available
No
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
No
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Objective
We aimed to determine: (i) the toxicological profile of cocaine, metabolites and adulterants amongst three groups of cocaine-related fatalities in which cocaine and/or metabolites were present in blood: (a) fatal toxicity, where cocaine only (CO) was present (n = 48), (b) multiple drug toxicity (MDT) where other drugs were present (n = 604), and (c) a comparison group of death from traumatic injury (TI, n = 232); (ii) the acute clinical presentation by group; and (iii) cardiovascular disease by group.
Findings/Key points
Compared to MDT and TI cases, CO cases had higher cocaine concentrations, higher concentrations of adulterants, higher levels of cardiovascular disease and were more likely to suddenly collapse.
Design/methods
Retrospective study
Keywords
Stimulants
Mortality
About PWUD
Overdose
