Toxicological and histological analyses for a stillborn delivered by a mother under methadone maintenance therapy

Based on autopsy findings and toxicological results, it was ascertained whether chronic fetal exposure to methadone (MTD) could have caused intrauterine death of a fetus born to a mother under MTD maintenance therapy. Complete fetal autopsy, placental examination and toxicological and histological analyses were performed on a 39-week-old stillborn fetus, whose mother had regularly taken MTD during the pregnancy. The MTD and its main metabolite...