Thierauf Annette, Kempf Jürgen, Eschbach Jörg, Auwärter Volker, Weinmann Wolfgang, Gnann Heike
Institute of Forensic Medicine, Freiburg University Medical Centre, Freiburg, Switzerland.
Med Sci Law. 2013 Apr;53(2):96-9. doi: 10.1258/msl.2012.012038. Epub 2013 Mar 14.
In the last century, several mathematical models have been developed to calculate blood ethanol concentrations (BAC) from the amount of ingested ethanol and vice versa. The most common one in the field of forensic sciences is Widmark's equation. A drinking experiment with 10 voluntary test persons was performed with a target BAC of 1.2 g/kg estimated using Widmark's equation as well as Watson's factor. The ethanol concentrations in the blood were measured using headspace gas chromatography/flame ionization and additionally with an alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)-based method. In a healthy 75-year-old man a distinct discrepancy between the intended and the determined blood ethanol concentration was observed. A blood ethanol concentration of 1.83 g/kg was measured and the man showed signs of intoxication. A possible explanation for the discrepancy is a reduction of the total body water content in older people. The incident showed that caution is advised when using the different mathematical models in aged people. When estimating ethanol concentrations, caution is recommended with calculated results due to potential discrepancies between mathematical models and biological systems.
在上个世纪，已经开发了几种数学模型来根据摄入的乙醇量计算血液乙醇浓度（BAC），反之亦然。法医学领域最常用的是维德马克方程。对10名自愿测试者进行了饮酒实验，目标BAC为1.2 g/kg，使用维德马克方程以及沃森因子进行估算。使用顶空气相色谱/火焰离子化法并另外采用基于酒精脱氢酶（ADH）的方法测量血液中的乙醇浓度。在一名75岁健康男性中，观察到预期的血液乙醇浓度与测定的浓度之间存在明显差异。测得血液乙醇浓度为1.83 g/kg，该男子出现了中毒迹象。这种差异的一个可能解释是老年人总体水含量的减少。该事件表明，在老年人中使用不同的数学模型时应谨慎。在估算乙醇浓度时，由于数学模型与生物系统之间可能存在差异，因此建议对计算结果保持谨慎。
