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Updated: Sep 20, 2026

Expired CO2 Measurement in Intubated or Spontaneously Breathing Patients from the Emergency Department
Published on: January 29, 2011
A fatal case considered to be due to cardiac arrhythmia associated with butane inhalation
Chiaki Fuke1, Tetsuji Miyazaki, Tomonori Arao
1Department of Legal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, 207 Uehara, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan. cfuke@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
Abstract:
An autopsy case of a 14-year-old boy whose death is considered to be a result of cardiac arrhythmia after butane inhalation and sample preservation for butane analysis are reported. The electrocardiogram taken in the ambulance revealed ventricular fibrillation. There were no autopsy findings as to the cause of death. n-Butane, isobutane and propane were identified in the blood, brain and lung of the cadaver by headspace gas chromatography. Based on these results, the cause of death was concluded to be cardiac arrhythmia due to butane inhalation. As a follow-up, n-butane, isobutane and propane concentrations in the blood kept at -30 degrees C showed the unchanged values with a coefficient of variation of within 10% for 2 weeks.
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