Preliminary report on the application of a high performance liquid chromatographic method for alprazolam in postmortem blood specimens.

A high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of alprazolam in postmortem blood specimens is described. The method is sensitive, reproducible, and gives good resolution between other benzodiazepines. Recovery of alprazolam from spiked blood specimens at 100 ng/mL was 89%. The procedure was applied to a case of suicidal ingestion of alprazolam and a blood concentration of 177 ng/mL was determined.