Gruszecki Amy C, McGwin Gerald, Robinson C Andrew, Davis Gregory G
Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences, Dallas, TX, USA.
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2008 Dec;132(12):1903-6. doi: 10.5858/132.12.1903.
Forensic pathologists regularly investigate the deaths of individuals with a history of drug abuse. Autopsy, including toxicology testing, reveals no cause for death in a subset of this cohort.
To determine whether deaths with an undetermined cause and manner of death are associated with a history of drug abuse.
Retrospective matched case-control study of 52 decedents whose cause of death remained undetermined following autopsy, matched 1:2 to a control group of living patients admitted for cholecystectomy according to age and date of death or procedure.
Individuals whose cause of death was undetermined were 5.3 times (95% confidence interval, 1.9-14.5) more likely to have a history of drug abuse than were patients with cholecystitis.
Decedents with a history of chronic drug abuse appear to be at an increased risk of dying by their chronic drug abuse, even in the absence of any anatomical or toxicologic finding at autopsy to account for death.
法医病理学家经常对有药物滥用史的个体死亡情况进行调查。尸检（包括毒理学检测）显示，该队列中的一部分人死因不明。
确定死因和死亡方式不明的死亡是否与药物滥用史有关。
对52例尸检后死因仍未确定的死者进行回顾性匹配病例对照研究，根据年龄、死亡日期或手术日期，按照1:2的比例与因胆囊切除术入院的存活患者对照组进行匹配。
死因不明的个体有药物滥用史的可能性是胆囊炎患者的5.3倍（95%置信区间，1.9 - 14.5）。
有慢性药物滥用史的死者似乎因慢性药物滥用而死亡的风险增加，即使尸检时没有任何解剖学或毒理学发现可解释死亡原因。
