Refine your search
Collections
Year
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z All
Uzun, Ibrahim
- Comparison of Alcohol Levels in Right Heart Blood, Left Heart Blood and Femoral Blood in 30 forensic Autopsy Cases
Abstract Views :415 |
PDF Views:0
Authors
Affiliations
1 MD, the Ministry of Justice, Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul/Turkey
2 University of Kara Elmas, Medical Faculty, Zonguldak/Turkey
3 Chemist, the Ministry of Justice, Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul/Turkey
1 MD, the Ministry of Justice, Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul/Turkey
2 University of Kara Elmas, Medical Faculty, Zonguldak/Turkey
3 Chemist, the Ministry of Justice, Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul/Turkey
Source
Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Vol 3, No 2 (2009), Pagination: 54-57Abstract
Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug in the world. Ethanol is also the most commonly detected drug in deaths from all cases but the highest incidence was reported to be in trauma cases. The detection and interpretation of postmortem blood alcohol concentrations and their relationship to impairment or contribution to the cause of death is a significant issue in forensic toxicology. Alcohol levels of body fluid can be reliably determined in blood, vitreous humor, urine, breath, cerebrospinal fluid, saliva and bile. The "gold standard" in analysis of postmortem alcohol levels in forensic settings is whole blood (femoral or subclavian veins) by headspace chromatography. In this study we compared the alcohol concentrations in right heart blood, left heart blood and peripheral (femoral) blood of 30 adult forensic autopsy cases. Blood levels of ethanol and methanol of three different sampling sites were analyzed by HSGC and the results were statistically evaluated. There was no statistically significant relationship both between the age and post-mortem interval with the alcohol levels in three sampling sites. When the differences between the alcohol levels of these different three sampling sites were analyzed, while there was no statistically significant difference between the levels of left heart blood and femoral blood, the levels both in left heart and femoral blood were found to be significantly higher than that of the right heart (P values 0.05 and 0.013). In cases showing obvious gastric regurgitation, the difference between the left heart blood and right heart blood was prominent. Our study indicates that left heart blood alcohol level is higher than that of the right heart and the difference is particularly marked in cases showing the findings of gastric regurgitation and thus showing the importance of choice of the right heart blood in cases where the sampling of peripheral blood is not possible.Keywords
Post-mortem Alcohol Analysis, Right Heart Blood, Left Heart Blood, Femoral Blood, Ethanol, Methanol
References
- Winek CL, Esposito FM. Antemortem and postmortem alcohol determinations. In Wecht CH, ed. Forensic sciences Vol.2. Matthew Bender,2003, New York:31-75.
- Charnes ME, Simon RP, Greenberg DA. Ethanol and nervous system. N Engl J Med 1989, 321: 442-454.
- Anda RF, Williamson DF, Remington PL. alcohol and fatal injuries among US adults: findings from the NMANES I epidemiologic follow-up study. JAMA 1988, 260: 2529-2532.
- Lieber CS. Medical disorders of alcoholism. N Engl J Med 1995, 333: 1058-1065.
- Howland J, Hingson R. Alcohol as a risk factor for injuries or death due to fires and burns: review of the literature. Pub Health Rep 1987, 102: 475-483.
- Alleyne BC, Stuart P, Copes R. alcohol and other drug use in occupational fatalities. J Occup Med 1991, 33: 496-499.
- Moore KA, Kunsman GW, Levine BS, Herman MM, Cervenak J, Hyde TM. A comparison of ethanol concentrations in the occipital lobe and cerebellum. Forensic Sci Int 1997, 86:127-134.
- Jones AW. Limits of detection and quantitation of ethanol in specimens of whole blood from drinking drivers analyzed by headspace gas chromatography. J Forensic Sci 1991, 36: 1277-1279.
- Prouty RW, Anderson WH. A comparison of postmortem heart blood and femoral blood ethyl alcohol concentrations. J Anal Toxicol 1987, 11(5): 191-197.
- Winek CL, Esposito FM. Comparative study of ethanol levels in blood versus bone marrow, vitreous humor, bile and urine. Forensic Sci Int 1981, 17: 27-36
- Jones GR, Pounder DJ. Site dependence of drug concentrations in post-mortem blood- a case study. J Anal Toxicol 1987, 11: 186-190.
- Pelissier-Alicot AN, Coste N, Bartoli C, Piercecchi-Marti MD, Sanvoisin A, Gouvernet J, Leonetti G. Comparison of ethanol concentrations in right cardiac blood, left cardiac blood and peripheral blood in a series of 30 cases. Forensic Sci Int 2006, 156: 35-39.
- O’Neal CL, Poklis A. Postmortem production of ethanol and factors that influence interpretation: a critical review. Am J Forensic Med pathol 1996, 17: 8-20.
- Turkel HW, Gilford H. Erroneous blood alcohol findings at autopsy; avoidance by proper sampling technique. J Am Med Assoc 1957, 164(10): 1077-1079.
- Bowden KM, McCallum NEW. Blood alcohol content: some aspects of its postmortem uses. Med J Aust 1949, 2: 76-81.
- Harger RN, Forney. Progress in Chemical Toxicology, Vol.1. Academic press Inc., New York 1963:53-134.
- Plueckhahn VD. The significance of blood alcohol levels at autopsy. Med J Aust 1967, 2: 118-124.