• Stavroula A Papadodima, Artemis Dona, Christos I Evaggelakos, Nikolaos Goutas, and Sotirios A Athanaselis.
• Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, M. Asias 75, Goudi, Athens 115 27, Greece. Electronic address: stpapd@gmail.com.
• J Forensic Leg Med. 2013 Oct 1; 20 (7): 809-11.

AbstractIbogaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid derived from the roots of the rain forest shrub Tabernanthe iboga. Deaths have occurred temporarily related to the use of ibogaine. However, although not licensed as therapeutic drug, and despite evidence that ibogaine may disturb the rhythm of the heart, this alkaloid is currently used as an anti-addiction drug in alternative medicine for detoxification purposes. We report the case of a man who died suddenly 12-24 h after ibogaine use for alcohol detoxification treatment. In the autopsy liver cirrhosis and heavy fatty infiltration was found. The concentration of ibogaine was 2 mg/l. The potential risks of ibogaine use, especially for persons with pathological medical background, are discussed.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

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