A 50-year-old man on digoxin therapy is found dead. The forensic pathologist requests a postmortem blood sample from the femoral vein rather than the heart. The PRIMARY rationale for this practice is to avoid:

• A Postmortem redistribution ✓
• B Bacterial contamination
• C Hemolysis of the specimen
• D Chemical degradation of the drug

Explanation

Postmortem redistribution is the release of drugs from tissue stores (especially liver, lungs, myocardium) into cardiac blood after death, causing falsely elevated concentrations in heart blood. Basic lipophilic drugs like digoxin, tricyclic antidepressants, and cocaine show significant redistribution. Femoral blood is preferred because it is remote from major drug reservoirs and better reflects ante-mortem levels.

Reference: Baselt's Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man, 12th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.