On the influence of postmortem alcohol diffusion from the stomach contents to the heart blood.

Alcohol concentrations in the mixed left and right heart blood, urine and stomach contents of 186 cadavers were analyzed by gas chromatography in order to find the influence of postmortem diffusion of alcohol from the stomach contents to the heart blood. In 39 cases where blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were less than 0.10 mg/g, alcohol in the stomach contents was suggested to be due to postmortem production, and the postmortem diffusion of alcohol from the stomach contents to the heart blood was less than 10%. In 147 where BACs were 0.10 mg/g and more, ratios of BAC to urine alcohol concentration (UAC) were 1.0 and more in 47 cases (32%), and less than 1.0 in 100 cases (68%). In 17 of these 147 cases, alcohol concentrations in stomach contents (SACs) were more than ten times as high as BACs. Where the highest ratio of SAC/BAC was 60.1, the BAC of 0.14 mg/g was suspected to be due to drinking. In the case where the highest SAC was 50.8 mg/g, the BAC of 5.18 mg/g, the highest in this study, seemed to be little affected by the diffusion. These results suggest that it is important to compare BAC, UAC and SAC to assess the influence of postmortem diffusion of alcohol from the stomach contents to the heart blood.