Has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collection
Introduction. Herein we present an illustrative case from the Forensic Museum collection made by Professor Milovan Milovanović (1884–1948). Museum specimen No. 465 represents a jar containing three glass syringes and two small bottles of 10–20 ml, sealed with corks, found in the pockets of the decea...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Serbian Medical Society
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Srpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0370-8179/2022/0370-81792200083N.pdf |
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| author | Nikolić Slobodan Đukić Danica Lukić Vera Živković Vladimir |
| author_facet | Nikolić Slobodan Đukić Danica Lukić Vera Živković Vladimir |
| author_sort | Nikolić Slobodan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction. Herein we present an illustrative case from the Forensic Museum collection made by Professor Milovan Milovanović (1884–1948). Museum specimen No. 465 represents a jar containing three glass syringes and two small bottles of 10–20 ml, sealed with corks, found in the pockets of the deceased whose autopsy was performed in 1929. Case outline. It was a 30-year-old male, found dead in a tavern shed, a former medical student, lieutenant, and Russian emigre who came to Belgrade, Serbia in 1921 following the commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army, Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel. He was an alcoholic, a drug user, and a member of the so-called Russian cocaine quartet gang. In the autopsy report, Professor Milovanović described a textbook example of a drug user: extremely malnourished body, skin covered with scabs, multiple „purulent abscesses” and „livid infiltrations,” and attenuated nasal septum with mucosa covered with scabs. Internal autopsy findings included fatty liver, pneumonia, and anemia of all internal organs. At the time, the whole brain, tissue of internal organs, and contents of the stomach and intestines were used for the analysis (“the Stas–Otto method for extraction of alkaloids”). Qualitative analyses showed “the presence of cocaine” in all the examined organs, and the analysis of the content from the “cloudy, colorless liquid” found in the dark bottle showed that it contained “0.0113 g of morphinum hydrochloricum.” Conclusion. Contemporary analyses of the material from one of the syringes and the transparent glass bottle performed 90 years later showed the presence of cocaine, morphine, and codeine, confirming that the cause of death was drug-related. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:16:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f8aed7d6dd13454ba59b68a2f5fdf95a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0370-8179 2406-0895 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T06:16:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Serbian Medical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Srpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo |
| spelling | doaj.art-f8aed7d6dd13454ba59b68a2f5fdf95a2022-12-22T04:41:02ZengSerbian Medical SocietySrpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo0370-81792406-08952022-01-011509-1061261510.2298/SARH220131083N0370-81792200083NHas something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collectionNikolić Slobodan0Đukić Danica1Lukić Vera2Živković Vladimir3University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Belgrade, SerbiaUniversity of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Belgrade, SerbiaUniversity of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Belgrade, SerbiaUniversity of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Belgrade, SerbiaIntroduction. Herein we present an illustrative case from the Forensic Museum collection made by Professor Milovan Milovanović (1884–1948). Museum specimen No. 465 represents a jar containing three glass syringes and two small bottles of 10–20 ml, sealed with corks, found in the pockets of the deceased whose autopsy was performed in 1929. Case outline. It was a 30-year-old male, found dead in a tavern shed, a former medical student, lieutenant, and Russian emigre who came to Belgrade, Serbia in 1921 following the commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army, Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel. He was an alcoholic, a drug user, and a member of the so-called Russian cocaine quartet gang. In the autopsy report, Professor Milovanović described a textbook example of a drug user: extremely malnourished body, skin covered with scabs, multiple „purulent abscesses” and „livid infiltrations,” and attenuated nasal septum with mucosa covered with scabs. Internal autopsy findings included fatty liver, pneumonia, and anemia of all internal organs. At the time, the whole brain, tissue of internal organs, and contents of the stomach and intestines were used for the analysis (“the Stas–Otto method for extraction of alkaloids”). Qualitative analyses showed “the presence of cocaine” in all the examined organs, and the analysis of the content from the “cloudy, colorless liquid” found in the dark bottle showed that it contained “0.0113 g of morphinum hydrochloricum.” Conclusion. Contemporary analyses of the material from one of the syringes and the transparent glass bottle performed 90 years later showed the presence of cocaine, morphine, and codeine, confirming that the cause of death was drug-related.http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0370-8179/2022/0370-81792200083N.pdfautopsymuseum collection1920scocainemorphinetoxicology |
| spellingShingle | Nikolić Slobodan Đukić Danica Lukić Vera Živković Vladimir Has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collection Srpski Arhiv za Celokupno Lekarstvo autopsy museum collection 1920s cocaine morphine toxicology |
| title | Has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collection |
| title_full | Has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collection |
| title_fullStr | Has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collection |
| title_short | Has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time? An instructive example from the forensic collection |
| title_sort | has something changed about chronic cocaine abuse over time an instructive example from the forensic collection |
| topic | autopsy museum collection 1920s cocaine morphine toxicology |
| url | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0370-8179/2022/0370-81792200083N.pdf |
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