Institute of Legal Medicine, Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, Section of Legal Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2023 Aug;98:102576. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102576. Epub 2023 Aug 9.
Sodium nitrite (SN) is an inorganic salt that appears as a slightly yellowish crystalline solid, odorless, and highly soluble in water at room temperature. It is highly toxic to humans at specific doses because it can oxidize hemoglobin to methemoglobin, causing severe tissue hypoxia. A 20-year-old woman was unconscious in her bedroom and died shortly after that. Two days later, following the discovery of a jar of SN and a paper in which were written instructions on how to take it (and the website from which the procedure was learned) in the same room were death occurred, the Judicial Authority ordered the execution of the autopsy on the exhumed body of the young woman. The autopsy procedure was performed ∼ 2h after exhumation. It showed greyish-purple hypostasis, labial cyanosis, stomach distension and greenish color but empty, subpleural petechiae, brownish fluid in the pleural cavities (∼300 ml), congested and edematous lungs and diffuse visceral congestion. At autopsy, foamy liquid was observed at the lung section and subsequent squeezing. In addition, the autopsy showed edema and hemorrhagic petechiae of the laryngeal, glottal, and tracheal submucosa and green-brownish foamy liquid in the tracheal lumen. The cause of death was attributed tocardiac arrest induced by anoxia resulting from acute methemoglobinemia caused by sodium nitrite poisoning, intensified by severe malnutrition. Manner of death was suicidal.
亚硝酸钠（SN）是一种无机盐，呈淡黄色结晶固体，无味，在室温下高度溶于水。在特定剂量下，它对人体具有高度毒性，因为它可以将血红蛋白氧化为高铁血红蛋白，导致严重的组织缺氧。一名 20 岁的女子在卧室中昏迷不醒，不久后死亡。两天后，在同一房间发现了一罐 SN 和一张写有如何服用 SN 的说明（以及学习该程序的网站）的纸张，随后司法当局下令对年轻女子的尸体进行挖掘后的尸检。尸检程序是在挖掘后约 2 小时进行的。尸检显示灰紫色尸斑、口唇发绀、胃膨胀和绿色但空的、胸膜下瘀点、胸膜腔中有棕色液体（约 300 毫升）、充血和水肿的肺和弥漫性内脏充血。在尸检时，在肺切片和随后的挤压时观察到泡沫状液体。此外，尸检显示喉、声门和气管黏膜下水肿和出血性瘀点，以及气管腔中的绿棕色泡沫状液体。死因归因于亚硝酸钠中毒引起的急性高铁血红蛋白血症导致的缺氧引起的心脏骤停，严重营养不良加剧了这种情况。死亡方式为自杀。
