A review describes bone marrow as useful when conventional postmortem samples are compromised. Finding a benzodiazepine in marrow does not by itself reconstruct a corresponding antemortem blood level.
The review brings together evidence on marrow anatomy, collection, drug distribution, stability, and postmortem change. Its protected location can make marrow valuable in decomposed, burned, or otherwise difficult remains when blood or soft tissue is unavailable.
The paper describes detection of benzodiazepines and other drug classes in human cases and experimental work. Lipophilicity, vascularity, marrow type, sampling site, and handling can affect the observed amount.
Relative resistance to decomposition or redistribution does not establish that every compound remains unchanged. Post-collection storage still matters, and findings for one drug or site cannot be generalized to another without supporting data.
The evidence base remains limited and heterogeneous. The review calls for standardized sampling and interpretive frameworks rather than supplying a universal marrow-to-blood ratio or lethal reference interval.
Explain whether the result supports exposure identification, a quantitative comparison, or cause-of-death reasoning. Those are separate inferential steps. An unconventional matrix may preserve valuable evidence while leaving substantial uncertainty about timing, dose, circulating concentration, and contribution to death.
Original analysis of the supplied journal article, identified as PMC13234939.