CHANGES OF POSTMORTEM
ALCOHOL LEVELS: A STUDY WAS PERFORMED INVITRO AT DEGREE C˚ +4
Canturk G, Sari
H, Asirdizer M, Gurpinarli Z, Yavuz MS.
Journal of Forensic Medicine (Turkish), 2003; 11 (1): 11-9.
ABSTRACT
The evaluation of postmortem alcohol levels is important in the procedure of
forensic medicine. Postmortem alcohol level could be increase because of putrefaction or could be decrease in the invitro
means. Thus, evaluation of alcohol level could be a problem if numbers of toxicology laboratories have been insufficient and
if blood has been transported to this distance central.
In present study, we aimed to determine to change of ethanol level in the postmortem
blood samples maintained at +4ºC. For this aim, we aspirated blood samples from femoral veins of autopsied 20 corpses and
we filled blood samples to tubes with 1 mg/ml of sodium flour and without sodium flour. First day levels of ethanol were found
0 mg/ml in the bloods of 10 corpses and >
0 mg/ ml in the bloods of other 10 corpses by using Head Space Gas Chromatography. Thus, blood samples were divided to four
groups. Those groups were entitled that: without sodium flour and first day levels of ethanol was found =0, with sodium flour
and first day levels of ethanol was found =0, without sodium flour and first day levels of ethanol was found >0, with sodium
flour and first day levels of ethanol was found >0.
All of blood samples were maintained at +4ºC in the closed mounts of glass tubes
and ethanol levels were recurrently determined 7th day, 14th day, and 28th day after first day measurement.
In the blood samples with sodium flour and without sodium flour and first day
levels of ethanol was found =0, were not meanly changes. But, In the both of blood samples with sodium flour and without sodium
flour and first day levels of ethanol was found upper 0, were seemed meanly ethanol decrease parallel with time. Ethanol decreasing
was the more in blood samples without sodium flour than with sodium flour.
Consequences of our study were clarified that, sodium flour was not the best
protective for preventing for decreasing of postmortem ethanol.
Key words: Ethanol, postmortem blood alcohol levels,. sodium flour.