Fanton L, Bevalot F, Gustin MP, Paultre CZ, Le Meur C, Malicier D
Interpretation of drug concentrations in an alternative matrix: the case of meprobamate in bile. [JOURNAL ARTICLE]
Int J Legal Med 2008 Jun 26.
Investigating toxicological causes of death may require alternative matrices when the usual ones are lacking. Whereas forensic toxicology uses bile almost only for xenobiotic screening, a diagnostic test interpreting postmortem bile concentrations of meprobamate is reported. Based on 128 sets of autopsy data, its intrinsic qualities were good, with 0.95 sensitivity and 0.93 specificity. In a French forensic population, the positive and negative predictive factors were 0.90 and 0.97, respectively. It is a useful means of revealing overdoses where blood samples are not available or of confirming blood tests when postmortem redistribution is suspected.
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