Assessment of the Acuteness of Heroin Deaths from the Analysis of Multiple Blood Specimens

Data was compiled from 126 morphine-involved cases investigated by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of Maryland, USA. An investigation was conducted into whether comparison of morphine concentrations from a central and peripheral site could be used to determine whether a morphine death was acute or delayed. Fifty cases were identified as 'acute' because the urine free morphine concentration by radioimmunoassay (RIA) was less than 25 ng/mL; 76 cases were classified as 'random' because they had a urine morphine concentration greater than 25 ng/mL by RIA. The average heart blood to peripheral blood morphine concentration ratio in the acute deaths was 1.40. The average heart blood to peripheral blood morphine concentration ratio in the random deaths was 1.18. Because there was considerable overlap between the two groups of data, the authors conclude that it was not possible to predict 'acute' opiate intoxication deaths versus 'delayed' deaths when the only information available is heart and peripheral blood free morphine concentrations.