LC–MS/MS analysis of fentanyl and norfentanyl in a fatality due to application of multiple Durogesic® transdermal therapeutic systems

Abstract Fentanyl is a potent synthetic narcotic analgesic administered in the form of a transdermal patch for the management of chronic pain. A 78-year-old woman with a history of cancer was found dead in bed. She was lying on her back. The external examination revealed 10 Durogesic® transdermal th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forensic science international 2007-07, Vol.169 (2), p.223-227
Main Authors: Coopman, Vera, Cordonnier, Jan, Pien, Karen, Van Varenbergh, Dirk
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administration, Cutaneous
Aged
Analgesics
Analgesics, Opioid - administration & dosage
Analgesics, Opioid - analysis
Analgesics, Opioid - poisoning
Bile - chemistry
Biological and medical sciences
Chromatography
Chromatography, Liquid
Fatalities
Female
Fentanyl - administration & dosage
Fentanyl - analogs & derivatives
Fentanyl - analysis
Fentanyl - poisoning
Forensic medicine
Forensic sciences
Forensic Toxicology
Gastrointestinal Contents - chemistry
General aspects
Humans
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Kidney - chemistry
Liver - chemistry
Medical sciences
Metabolites
Molecular weight
Neoplasms - complications
Pain
Pain - drug therapy
Pain - etiology
Pathology
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
Suicide
Vitreous Body - chemistry
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Fentanyl is a potent synthetic narcotic analgesic administered in the form of a transdermal patch for the management of chronic pain. A 78-year-old woman with a history of cancer was found dead in bed. She was lying on her back. The external examination revealed 10 Durogesic® transdermal therapeutic systems (100 μg/h fentanyl) on the body. Liquid–liquid extraction and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray source in positive ionization mode was applied for the quantitation of fentanyl and its major metabolite norfentanyl in the post-mortem samples. Fentanyl-d5 and norfentanyl-d5 were used as internal standards. Multiple reaction monitoring was used for specific detection. Calibration was performed by addition of standard solutions to drug-free matrix (blood, urine and liver) prior to extraction. The method showed good linearity for fentanyl and norfentanyl over a concentration range of 5–150 μg/L in reconstituted extracts with coefficients of determination equal or greater than 0.998. Percent mean within-day precision and accuracy of 0.9–1.0% and 99.4–101.1% for fentanyl and 2.0–4.5% and 93.1–101.0% for norfentanyl were obtained. Mean extraction recoveries varied between 95.5% and 100.3% for fentanyl and 39.2–57.4% for norfentanyl. The following fentanyl (norfentanyl) concentration in the post-mortem samples were measured; 28.6 μg/L (3.0 μg/L) in right and 28.2 μg/L (3.5 μg/L) in left subclavian blood, 21.3 μg/L (
ISSN:0379-0738
1872-6283
DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.03.018