Biochip Array Technology (BAT) is a new technique used for screening purposes in clinical and forensic toxicology. The purpose of this article is to compare it with the standard ELISA with spectrophotometric detection (SD) in regard of its sensibility and specificity. Material and methods. Fifty five samples were analyzed on both BAT and ELISA SD; the results were confirmed using either GC-MS (for opiates, benzoilecgonine and cannabinoids) or HPLC (for barbiturates and benzodiazepines). Results. For opiates BAT technique had a sensibility of 100% and a specificity of 97.72%. Sensibility for ELISA SD technique was 92.3% and specificity 97.72%. For benzoilecgonine the sensibility and specificity for BAT was 100% whilst for ELISA SD the sensibility was 100% and specificity was 93.10%. For cannabinoids the sensibility for BAT was 90%, and specificity was 97.7% whilst for the ELISA SD technique the sensibility was 100% and the specificity was 91.11%. For barbiturates the sensibility and specificity was 100% for both methods. For benzodiazepines the sensibility for BAT was 100% and the specificity was 95.65% whilst for ELISA SD the sensibility was 100% and the specificity was 93.47%. Conclusions. The results obtained on BAT are comparable with those from ELISA-SD and have a high sensitivity and specificity compared to the used confirmatory methods. The results do not have however an increased statistical significance due to a very small number of positive results, caused by an abruptly decreasing number of positive cases in the last year, mainly due to increased used of "legal highs".

In the last few years in Romania a modern system of drug detection has been developed in the legal medicine system, increasing the detection rate and the sensitivity of DRD detection. In this short report we will present a general profile of drug abuse in Bucharest in 2010. The study was conducted in 2010 when a total number of 208 toxicology tests were conducted in the National Institute of Legal Medicine, 105 on cadavers and 103 on living persons. As main results, in living the most frequently identified drugs of abuse were THC and opiates whilst in cadavers opiates were the most frequent, followed by benzodiazepines. Conclusions. Opiate consumption has a tendency to decrease compared with 2009. Legal highs seems to shift the pattern of drug consumption in Bucharest and surrounding areas, but a definite results can only be obtained using test results from 2011.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to determine the pattern of drug related deaths in Romania between 2008 and 2011 by analyzing the medical-legal cases, from a significant proportion of Romanian Counties (out of 41 plus the capital), in which the direct causal link between drug overdose and death was drug related. Material and methods. 446 forensic toxicology cases were analyzed in a four year period, obtained from more than two thirds of the counties in Romania. Results. 54.26% yielded a positive toxicological analysis, most often with benzodiazepines, opiates, barbiturates and cannabinoids. Males around 31 years old represented the most affected group. Illegal drug related deaths were more frequent in males and non-illegal drug related deaths were proportionally more frequent in females. Discussions and conclusions. The pattern of consumption is similar to the one obtained by similar studies in neighboring countries. The city capital has a very distinct pattern of consumption compared to other cities/counties.