Management of severe chronic pain with methadone in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease.

Vasocclusive pain crises are common among pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Some patients with repeated pain crises develop chronic pain. We performed a retrospective cohort study of pediatric patients with SCD with chronic pain treated with methadone. We identified a significant reduction in pain hospitalizations following methadone treatment (0.35 ± 0.19 vs. 0.19 ± 0.17 hospitalizations/month, P = 0.016). In addition, we did not observe overt organ toxicity nor symptoms of opioid withdrawal during methadone wean. We suggest that methadone is safe and has some clinical benefit, which should be proven in prospective randomized trials for pediatric patients with SCD and chronic pain.

Deaths involving 1,1-difluoroethane at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

Intentional abuse of 1,1-difluoroethane has been reported to cause transient symptoms such as confusion, tremors, pulmonary irritation, loss of consciousness and, rarely, coma. In the last five years, 17 cases from the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office showed the presence of 1,1-difluoroethane in postmortem tissues, and the gas was cited in the cause of death in 13 of those cases. Detected during routine ethanol screening, 1,1-difluoroethane was evaluated for concentrations in peripheral blood, central blood and vitreous humor by a slightly modified method published by Avella et al. In many cases, death from abuse of 1,1-difluoroethane seemed to occur within minutes of intentional abuse; large concentrations (>100 mg/L) of the gas were still in the blood. It is important that forensic toxicology laboratories have routine screening procedures to detect 1,1-difluoroethane because cases exist in which evidence of use from cans may not be present in proximity to the decedent, or may be undiscovered in the debris of a motor vehicle accident. It is also important to quantify concentrations of 1,1-difluoroethane in both peripheral blood and central blood, whose ratio may be useful in interpreting how recently the use of the 1,1-difluoroethane occurred.

Fatal fluoxetine intoxication with markedly elevated central blood, vitreous, and liver concentrations.

Since being introduced into clinical practice 20 years ago, fluoxetine, a serotonin-reuptake inhibitor, has remained one of the most popular antidepressants prescribed in the United States. Upon reviewing the literature, the highest reported postmortem central blood fluoxetine and norfluoxetine concentrations are 22 and 6.8 mg/L, respectively, and reported liver fluoxetine and norfluoxetine concentrations are 29-128 and 17 mg/kg, respectively. A 31-year-old female with convulsive activity was found at home by her husband. Emergency services was contacted, and responders found the patient unresponsive with agonal respirations, a pulse of 20 bpm, and no measurable blood pressure. Despite all resuscitative efforts, the patient expired. Postmortem analyses revealed concentrations of 33 mg/L fluoxetine and 12 mg/L norfluoxetine in central blood and 400 mg/kg fluoxetine and 460 mg/kg norfluoxetine in liver. Vitreous fluoxetine and norfluoxetine concentrations were 5.2 and 2.2 mg/L, respectively. Utilizing a sensitive and specific analytical procedure, we report the highest recorded central blood and liver fluoxetine and norfluoxetine concentrations.