This manuscript reported a case of fatal arsenic poisoning. A woman with schizophrenia took arsenic-containing "pills," which consisted of arsenic trioxide and realgar (arsenic (II) sulfide) and wrapped with gauze. The victim consumed 1.09 and 0.819 g arsenic on two occasions, respectively, with the interval between the two doses of 3 days. The woman died on the sixth day after the first dose without any treatment. In this case, pathological examination revealed fat degeneration of the liver rather than hepatomegaly, a rare finding in acute arsenic poisoning. Arsenic in tissue samples was measured, the total arsenic and inorganic arsenic in blood, liver, and gastric wall was 10.2 μg/mL (9.61 μg/mL), 23.1 μg/g (20.7 μg/g), and 32.3 μg/g (28.6 μg/g), respectively.
Keywords: arsenic trioxide; fatality; forensic science; forensic toxicology; realgar; tissue concentration.
© 2019 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.