Fatal Poisonings in the South Marmara Region of Turkey

Abstract

Aim:The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of medico-legal autopsies of fatal poisonings in the south Marmara region, Turkey, in the period of 1996-2003, in order to provide further data for the characterisation of fatal poisonings, because there is a scarcity of such information from Turkey.Methods: Of the 4242 autopsied cases, 415 (9.8%) deaths due to poisonings were examined; 26.8% females and 73.2% males. The mean age was 40.1±19.2 years old (range 0-88).Results: The three most common types of poison were carbon monoxide (43.5%), insecticides (24.6%), and alcohol (18.4%). The most frequent unnatural manner of death was accidents (67.5%), followed by suicidal (27.5%) deaths. Insecticides were the cause in 71.9% of suicidal poisonings, whereas the cause was carbon monoxide in 63.2%, and alcohol in %27.1% of the unintentional poisonings. The deaths due to carbon monoxide were associated with coal stoves (48.3%), water heaters in bath (31.1%), and fires (17.8%). Organophosphorus insecticides were responsible for 91.1% of total insecticide poisonings. 73.7% of the alcohol poisonings were observed in years [2000][2001][2002], and of the methyl alcohol poisoning, 35.9% and 29.7% were seen in years 2001 and 2002, respectively. Therapeutic drugs were encountered most frequently (75%).Conclusion: In conclusion, in fatal poisoning cases who have undergone medico-legal autopsy in Bursa and province, CO is of great ratio.

Characteristics of unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning in Northwest Iran – Tabriz

“…This suggests that unintentional CO poisoning has a high prevalence in this region of the country. This is in part consistent with previous research conducted in Tehran (Sheikhazadi et al, 2010) and the northern part of the country (Ahmadi et al, 2010) as well as in Turkey (Fedakar and Tu¨rkmen, 2008;Tu¨fekc¸i, Ç urgunlu, & S¸irin, 2004), a neighbouring country with the same potential for CO poisoning (e.g. cold weather, especially during the winter months).…”

“…In addition, the results of this study indicated that domestic gas appliances were implicated in almost all of the incidents, which is also similar to observations by Sheikhazadi et al (2010) who found the conventional heating or cooking appliances were responsible for the largest numbers of unintentional CO deaths. However, this result is not in agreement with the findings from Tu¨fekc¸i et al (2004) and Fedakar and Tu¨rkmen (2008) who reported that dysfunctioning coal or wood stoves were responsible for most CO-related poisoning incidents in Turkey.…”

Evaluation and comparison of alpha- and beta-amanitin toxicity on MCF-7 cell line

“…Deaths from mushroom poisoning, due to the ingestion of mushrooms containing amatoxins, seem to be increasing both in Turkey and worldwide (1). The alpha-amanitin (α-AMA) found in Amanita phalloides (also called the death cap mushroom) is one of the most toxic agents, and it is responsible for more than 90% of the cases of deadly mushroom poisoning (2).…”

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Cases Autopsied in South Marmara Region

“…Durak (6) reported the rate of CO poisoning in autopsied deaths as 4.74% between years 1995 and 1998. Fedakar et al (9) was found this ratio as 4.2% in the south Marmara region between 1996 and 2003 years. The decrease in this ratio can be explained by consciousness of the society and sufficient precautions towards to CO poisoning.…”

“…CO poisoning is a common cause of toxicological morbidity and mortality in the United States (17). In our country, the most common cause of fatal poisoning was CO poisoning (9,12,(18)(19).…”