An oxcarbazepine-related fatality with an overview of 26 oxcarbazepine postmortem cases

We present an oxcarbazepine-related fatality together with an overview of 26 postmortem cases involving oxcarbazepine observed during the period 2001–2006. The fatality case concerned a 27-year-old woman with epilepsy, who was found dead in her bed. Oxcarbazepine and its active metabolite, 10-hydroxycarbazepine, were the only compounds detected. The concentrations of oxcarbazepine were as follows: femoral blood, 2.9 mg/kg; muscle, 1.8 mg/kg; liver, 0.9 mg/kg; gastric content (300 ml), 860 mg/kg; and vitreous humour, not detected. The concentrations of 10-hydroxycarbazepine were as follows: femoral blood, 66 mg/kg; muscle, 40 mg/kg; liver, 62 mg/kg; gastric content, 27 mg/kg; and vitreous humour, 25 mg/kg. The analyses were performed by HPLC–DAD after liquid–liquid extraction. Oxcarbazepine intoxication was regarded as a possible cause of death. For the other 26 cases, the 10-hydroxycarbazepine concentrations ranged from 2.2 to 48 mg/kg with a median of 25 mg/kg.