Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
International Journal of Toxicology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ziavrou, K.
Right arrow Articles by Vougiouklakis, T. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ziavrou, K.
Right arrow Articles by Vougiouklakis, T. G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Review Article

Insights into the Origin of Postmortem Ethanol

Kallirroe Ziavrou
Vassiliki A. Boumba
Theodore G. Vougiouklakis

Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece

Correspondence: Address correspondence to Theodore G. Vougiouklakis, Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, 451 10 Ioannina, Greece. E-mail:tvujuk{at}cc.uoi.gr

Accurate interpretation of the blood ethanol (EtOH) concentration at the time of death presents a difficult task since the origin of detected EtOH in postmortem cases (either in corpses or in specimens after sample collection) may vary. Headspace gas chromatography is the choice method for detecting EtOH in blood or other specimens, due to the accuracy and sensitivity it provides. Possible sources of postmortem EtOH have been the ante-mortem ingestion, the ante-mortem endogenous production and the postmortem microbial neo-formation, which has been considered the most critical factor that could complicate the results. It has been reported that EtOH could be formed postmortem in variable and non-predictable amounts, as a function of the type and number of microorganisms present either in corpses or specimens collected at autopsy. The presence of other volatiles—mostly n-propanol—has been correlated to microbial EtOH production, although the quantitative pattern between them and EtOH still remains obscure. The factors most frequently implicated in the mechanism of postmortem EtOH production in corpses have been considered the number and nature of microbes present, the availability of various types of substrates, the temperature and the time. Complication in the interpretation of blood alcohol concentration could arise due to the atypical distribution of EtOH in the body compartments after death. Specimens to blood EtOH ratios reported in the literature are presented. All the aforementioned aspects are discussed in a comprehensive way, providing a deep insight into this essential problem.

Key Words: Atypical Distribution • Corpses • Ethanol Origin • Forensic Toxicology • Postmortem Ethanol • Tissue/Blood Ethanol Ratios • Volatiles

International Journal of Toxicology, Vol. 24, No. 2, 69-77 (2005)
DOI: 10.1080/10915810590936391
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?