Blood samples taken during autopsy in the nineties (1990-1999) were analysed for alcohol. Two analytical methods, gas chromatography and enzymatic, were used for alcohol determination. During these years only slight fluctuation in the number of alcohol positive samples was observed. The major part of blood samples were taken from men and only around 10-14% from women. In 42.6% samples from men and 75.6 from women the concentration of alcohol was below 0.5 g/l. The results 0.6-1.2 g/l, which raise the most doubts in experts during drawing the conclusions about consumption of alcohol before death, were observed in around 8% of deaths in both sexes. Very high concentrations above 4 g/l were measured in blood samples taken from 7.7% of death men and 3.2% of women. In most cases the concentrations of alcohol were in the range from 1.3 to 3.0 g/l, which is similar to these observed in alive acute poisoned persons.
Abstract