Biomaterial Database

Validity of post-mortem alcohol reports. 1990

P J Karhunen, and A Penttilä

Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, Finland.

The drinking behaviour of 95 consecutive men subjected to medicolegal autopsy in Helsinki was studied by interviewing a relative or friend of the deceased. Sufficient data for estimating the daily alcohol dose were obtained in 61 (64%) of the cases. Of these men, 21 (34%) were reported to drink at least an average of 80 g of alcohol daily. The validity of post-mortem alcohol reports was assessed by comparing the occurrence of alcohol-related diseases, toxicological data as well as the cause and manner of death with the reported alcohol consumption. Men whose reported daily alcohol consumption exceeded 80 g (mean 230 g) differed from men reported to drink less than 10 g (mean 3 g) in their more common incidence of positive post-mortem alcohol test (P less than 0.0005), fatty liver (P less than 0.001), enlarged liver (P less than 0.01), alcoholic hepatitis (P less than 0.05), chronic pancreatitis (P less than 0.01), and in their lower rate of death from cardiovascular diseases (P less than 0.05). The present results indicate that interviews with relatives or friends provide reliable data on the drinking behaviour of the deceased. At autopsy, the most sensitive tests coinciding with high consumption of alcohol in post-mortem alcohol reports but not with each other were positive post-mortem blood alcohol and the occurrence of fatty liver.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008099	Liver	A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances.	Livers
D008104	Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic	FIBROSIS of the hepatic parenchyma due to chronic excess ALCOHOL DRINKING.	Alcoholic Cirrhosis,Hepatic Cirrhosis, Alcoholic,Alcoholic Hepatic Cirrhosis,Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis
D008108	Liver Diseases, Alcoholic	Liver diseases associated with ALCOHOLISM. It usually refers to the coexistence of two or more subentities, i.e., ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER; ALCOHOLIC HEPATITIS; and ALCOHOLIC CIRRHOSIS.	Alcoholic Liver Diseases,Alcoholic Liver Disease,Liver Disease, Alcoholic
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D010179	Pancreas	A nodular organ in the ABDOMEN that contains a mixture of ENDOCRINE GLANDS and EXOCRINE GLANDS. The small endocrine portion consists of the ISLETS OF LANGERHANS secreting a number of hormones into the blood stream. The large exocrine portion (EXOCRINE PANCREAS) is a compound acinar gland that secretes several digestive enzymes into the pancreatic ductal system that empties into the DUODENUM.
D010195	Pancreatitis	INFLAMMATION of the PANCREAS. Pancreatitis is classified as acute unless there are computed tomographic or endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatographic findings of CHRONIC PANCREATITIS (International Symposium on Acute Pancreatitis, Atlanta, 1992). The two most common forms of acute pancreatitis are ALCOHOLIC PANCREATITIS and gallstone pancreatitis.	Acute Edematous Pancreatitis,Acute Pancreatitis,Pancreatic Parenchyma with Edema,Pancreatic Parenchymal Edema,Pancreatitis, Acute,Pancreatitis, Acute Edematous,Peripancreatic Fat Necrosis,Acute Edematous Pancreatitides,Acute Pancreatitides,Edema, Pancreatic Parenchymal,Edematous Pancreatitides, Acute,Edematous Pancreatitis, Acute,Fat Necrosis, Peripancreatic,Necrosis, Peripancreatic Fat,Pancreatic Parenchymal Edemas,Pancreatitides, Acute,Pancreatitides, Acute Edematous,Parenchymal Edema, Pancreatic,Peripancreatic Fat Necroses
D002423	Cause of Death	Factors which produce cessation of all vital bodily functions. They can be analyzed from an epidemiologic viewpoint.	Causes of Death,Death Cause,Death Causes
D003644	Death Certificates	Official records of individual deaths including the cause of death certified by a physician, and any other required identifying information.	Death Records,Certificate, Death,Certificates, Death,Death Certificate,Death Record,Record, Death,Records, Death
D003645	Death, Sudden	The abrupt cessation of all vital bodily functions, manifested by the permanent loss of total cerebral, respiratory, and cardiovascular functions.	Sudden Death