Problems of Forensic Sciences 2016 Vol. 108 (CVIII) 668-675
HAIR ANALYSIS AS CONFIRMATION OF LONG-TERM ATROPINE EXPOSURE – CASE STUDY
Agnieszka SKULSKA, Bogdan TOKARCZYK
Institute of Forensic Research, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
The subject, a 45-year-old male, had experienced unpleasant symptoms for a long time − always after a meal or drinking a beverage − e.g. anxiety, tachycardia, widely dilated and nonresponsive pupils, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision, loss of balance, dry mouth, dissociative hallucinations, and loss of consciousness. The described symptoms lasted from a few to several hours. The possibility of anticholinergic syndrome was considered, but urine toxicological screening for the most popular anticholinergic drugs (including atropine), which was carried out in the hospital, did not reveal any positive results. Neither blood nor urine, but only a strand of hair, was sent for analysis. Analyses of hair (divided into two segments) were conducted using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Atropine was found in both segments at concentrations of 25 (segment I) and 33 (segment II) pg/mg. There was no trace of scopolamine. The obtained results suggest that the subject had been consuming atropine from an unknown source for at least three months.
Słowa kluczowe
Atropine; Hair; LC-MS/MS.