FATAL POISONINGS IN THE SOUTH MARMARA REGION OF TURKEY
Recep Fedakar 1 * , Nursel Türkmen 1
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1 Uludağ University, Medical Faculty, Department of Forensic Medicine and Bursa branch of the Turkish Council of Forensic Medicine, Bursa, Turkey* Corresponding Author

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 2000-2002, 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

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Original Article

EUR J GEN MED, 2008, Volume 5, Issue 1, 1-8

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/82566

Publication date: 15 Jan 2008

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