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Case Reports
. 2022 Sep;136(5):1291-1296.
doi: 10.1007/s00414-022-02799-w. Epub 2022 Feb 15.

A unique case of death by MDPHP with no other co-ingestion: a forensic toxicology case

Domenico Di Candia  1 , Michele Boracchi  2 , Barbara Ciprandi  1 , Gaia Giordano  1 , Riccardo Zoja  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A unique case of death by MDPHP with no other co-ingestion: a forensic toxicology case

Domenico Di Candia et al. Int J Legal Med. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Synthetic cathinones are a class of psychoactive drugs that have become, in recent years, of quite common observation in medical and toxicological forensic field. MDPHP (3,4-methylenedioxy-α-pyrrolidinohexanophenone) belongs to this class of substances but lethal acute intoxication caused by this specific substance without other co-ingestions has never been described in literature. We are presenting the unique case of a fatal acute intoxication caused by MDPHP in a 48-year-old man carried to the A&E department of a big Milanese hospital where he suddenly deceased after brief time. Clinical records, autopsy examination, histological findings, and toxicological analysis, assessed via a Q-Exactive Orbitrap with a HPLC system and LC/MS-MS system, are discussed. This case report may represent the first case of this type of intoxication and might help in improving recognition and treatment of these particular cases.

Keywords: Autopsy; Lethal intoxication; MDPHP; Synthetic cathinones.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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