This paper reports the results of a Finnish study to clarify the correlation between liver disease, associated with alcoholism, and traffic casualties. The study also investigated whether the presence of liver disease in fatal casualties reflected the steady rise of alcohol consumption in Finland during the 1980s, and the simultaneous rise in the proportion of alcohol-associated drivers among fatal casualties. Autopsies were made of all motor vehicle drivers who died in road accidents in Helsinki or in the surrounding province of Uusimaa during 1989-90, together with five additional drivers. This sample of 117 consisted of 107 males and ten females, aged 15 to 78. It was possible to analyse 105 livers, 50 of which were found to be diseased, including 41 cases of steatosis (ten of them severe), seven cases of alcoholic hepatitis, and two cases of cirrhosis. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was at least 0.035% in 25 of the cases, where the observed BACs ranged from 0.067% to 0.29%. There was no close correlation between BAC and liver damage. Comparison with an earlier study suggests a rise in moderate and heavy steatosis among traffic casualties, indicating a rise in heavy use of alcohol and alcoholism among drivers killed in traffic accidents.
Abstract