Characteristics Properties of Autopsy Cases with Ethyl Alcohol and Evaluation of Their Causes of Death

Abstract

Objective:Ethyl alcohol intoxication and abuse take place in the world and in Turkey as an important public health problem. In this study, the data of cases with ethyl alcohol as a result of toxicological examination in autopsies were compared. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of autopsy cases with ethyl alcohol and to compare the causes of death.Methods:The results of all autopsies performed by Muğla Forensic Medicine Institution between 2013 and 2018 were evaluated retrospectively.Results:When the alcohol detection rates were analyzed by years, it was shown that alcohol was detected in 42.2% of the autopsies performed in 2013 and in 17.2% of the autopsies performed in 2018 (p=0.000). Alcohol was found in 15.8% of the autopsies performed in women and 28.8% in men (p=0.000). The cause of death in 25.9% of the cases with alcohol was defined as a self-existing disease (heart, lung, brain, liver, stomach, etc.), whereas this rate was 34.6% in cases without alcohol. The rate of penetrating traumas (firearms, stab wounds) as the causes of death was 13.9% in alcohol-detected cases and 9.1% in alcohol-free cases.Conclusion:It has been suggested that the differences in alcohol detection rates in autopsy cases may be related to awareness studies aiming at raising social awareness. It was suggested that the difference between alcohol detection and causes of death in autopsy cases could be associated with alcohol use and increased frequency of depression/suicide risk.

Keywords

• forensic medicine
• autopsy
• ethyl alcohol
• cause of death