In our studies, we found that neonatal cocaine mostly reflects maternal
metabolism (Casanova OQ, et al. Detection of cocaine exposure in the
neonate: Analyses of urine, meconium, and amniotic fluid from mothers and
infants exposed to cocaine. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
1994;118:988-93). I don't believe that anyone has documented whether a
newborn's metabolism of cocaine differs substantially from an adult's, but
it would not surprise me if neonatal metabolism is slower. We also detected
cocaine in breast milk (Winecker RE et al. Detection of cocaine and
metabolites in breast milk. Journal of Forensic Science 2001;46:1221-1223),
but there are very few case reports in the literature.
Roger
Roger L. Bertholf, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pathology
Director of Clinical Chemistry & Toxicology
University of Florida Health Science Center/Jacksonville
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robinson Paul [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 12:18 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Cocaine in the newborn
>
>
> Dear All
> Our maternity unit has a child (term baby) born to a cocaine
> using mother. Two days post natal the baby had cocaine and
> its metabolites present in its urine. My questions are A) is
> cocaine metabolism in the neonate sufficiently slow to allow
> parent drug to be still present two days after placental
> transfer, or B) is the mother still taking cocaine and
> passing it on to baby via breast milk? My guess is B), but I
> know little of neonatal cocaine metabolism. The child is now
> one week old and we have asked for a second sample to check.
>
> Thanks in anticipation
>
> Paul Robinson
> Royal Berkshire Hospital
>
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