Abstract
Introduction. Females who have developed addiction to heroin also abuse it
during pregnancy. Heroin can be detected in the fetal blood-flow already an
hour after maternal i.v. injection. Heroin metabolites enter the fetal
blood-flow through the placental barrier by passive transport. Case Outline.
We present a 27-year-old female in the 5th month of pregnancy that had a
miscarriage. Chemo-toxicological analysis (gas chromatography with mass
spectrometry - GC/MS), showed the presence of morphine in the fetal liver
(31.92 ng/g), placenta (27.94 ng/g) and meconium (136.33 ng/g). The analysis
did not show the presence of 6-monoacetylmorphine. Conclusion. In all cases
when the autopsy of fetus or newborn is performed, with mother suspected as
i.v. heroin abuser, chemotoxicological placental analysis, placenta and
meconium should be also done. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije,
br. 45005]
Citation
ID:
134750
Ref Key:
slobodan2014srpskithe