Study on the relationship between the concentration of ethanol in the blood, urine and the vitreous humour

Abstract

Ethanol (ethilic alcohol) is widely available, being the most commonly used drug worldwide and often involved in forensic cases. It therefore becomes essential to analyze and correctly interprete the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in samples collected during autopsy. The purpose of our study was to establish a relationship between the concentration of ethanol in vitreous humor, urine and blood, which should lead to a more accurate assessment of the BAC, in cases where direct measurement is difficult because of putrefaction, severe trauma, embalming etc. The study was conducted at the Institute of Forensic Medicine Iasi between December 2010 and August 2012 on a total of 202 forensic cases in which samples of blood, urine and vitreous humor were collected for toxicological examination. We found a strong correlation between the concentration of ethanol in blood and vitreous humor and a weaker correlation between the concentration of ethanol in blood and urine. We also identified a method for calculation of blood alcohol concentration at the time of death from blood alcohol concentration at the time of autopsy. Keywords: ethilic alcohol, blood, vitreous humour, urine, autopsy. Language: en