Mirchandani H G, Mirchandani I H, Hellman F, English-Rider R, Rosen S, Laposata E A
Office of the Medical Examiner, City of Philadelphia, PA.
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1991 May;115(5):494-8.
Cocaine is one of the most widely abused substances in the United States, in part due to the availability of its inexpensive alkaloidal free-base form, "crack". A variety of medical complications, including sudden death, are known to occur in the adult-user population, regardless of the route of cocaine administration. We report 16 cases of infant death registered by the Philadelphia (Pa) Medical Examiner's Office over a 2-year period (1987 through 1989), where toxicologic analyses revealed the presence of cocaine and/or its metabolite, benzoylecgonine. Scene investigation documented that these infants, shortly before death, had been exposed to environments that contained the smoke from crack. We conclude that the route of cocaine administration in this infant population was the passive inhalation of crack smoke. It is possible that the cocaine may have contributed to the death of these infants. Thus, in addition to the adult users, infants and children exposed to environments where crack is smoked may inhale cocaine and potentially suffer from its adverse effects.
可卡因是美国滥用最为广泛的物质之一，部分原因在于其廉价的生物碱游离碱形式“快克”易于获取。已知在成年使用者群体中会出现包括猝死在内的各种医学并发症，无论可卡因的给药途径如何。我们报告了费城法医办公室在1987年至1989年的两年期间登记的16例婴儿死亡案例，毒理学分析显示存在可卡因和/或其代谢物苯甲酰爱康宁。现场调查记录表明，这些婴儿在死亡前不久接触过含有快克烟雾的环境。我们得出结论，该婴儿群体中可卡因的给药途径是被动吸入快克烟雾。可卡因有可能导致了这些婴儿的死亡。因此，除了成年使用者外，接触快克烟雾环境的婴幼儿可能会吸入可卡因并可能遭受其不良影响。
