Problems of Forensic Sciences 2007 Vol. 70 (LXX) 161-172
DEVELOPMENT OF AN ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE FOR DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SUXAMETHONIUM CHLORIDE AND HYDROCORTISONE SUCCINATE
Dariusz ZUBA, Roman STANASZEK, Wojciech LECHOWICZ
Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow, Poland
Streszczenie
At the beginning of November 2006, the Polish public were informed by the media that a muscle relaxant used during surgery – suxamethonium chloride – had been detected in one ampoule of a popular anti-allergy drug, Corhydron. Initial inquiry findings indicated that several thousand ampoules containing drugs might have been wrongly labelled. The Ministry of Health decided to immediately withdraw all Corhydron batches from the market for safety reasons. The Institute of Forensic Research was designated to carry out identification of the substance present in the suspect Corhydron ampoules. And so, rapid and inexpensive methods for detection and identification of hydrocortisone sodium hemisuccinate and succinylcholine chloride had to be developed. Various analytical methods were taken into account. After preliminary studies, it was decided that the basic method used for identification of chemicals in the ampoules would be Fourier-Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy. Chemometric methods were used to present data. Chromatographic methods were used for confirmation of the results. Confirmatory analysis was performed in two cases: when the presence of succinylcholine in the tested lyophilised powder was suspected and when residues of dissolved powder were analysed. The developed procedure for the analysis of Corhydron ampoules content proved to be efficient and valid. It allows analysis of some 2,000 samples a month. Up to mid-March 2007, the presence of succinylcholine was confirmed in 24 Corhydron ampoules.
Słowa kluczowe
Hydrocortisone; Suxamethonium; Scoline; Corhydron; Chlorsuccillin.