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Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology

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Open Access 28-11-2022 | Autopsy | Original Article

Assessing the applicability of cerebrospinal fluid collected from the spinal cord for the determination of ethyl alcohol in post-mortem toxicology

Authors: Paulina Wachholz, Rafał Skowronek, Natalia Pawlas

Published in: Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology | Issue 1/2023

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study on the applicability of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from the spinal canal in the post-mortem determination of ethyl alcohol. The present study reviewed data of autopsy cases (n = 45), in which ethyl alcohol was detected in CSF using gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector (HS-GC-FID), to investigate ethyl alcohol concentrations in CSF, compared with blood. As a result of statistical analysis of the obtained data, a high positive correlation was found between blood ethanol concentration and cerebrospinal fluid collected from the spinal canal ethanol concentration. The Pearson correlation coefficient was statistically highly significant (p < 0.001) (r = 0.9503). The data obtained allowed us to conclude that cerebrospinal fluid collected from the spinal canal can be collected during an autopsy as an alternative biological specimen to assess the ethanol content. Cerebrospinal fluid collected from the spinal canal can corroborate and lend credibility to the results obtained for blood and, in special cases, when blood is drawn from putrefied bodies and may even be a superior specimen to blood for assessing ethyl alcohol intoxication status.

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Title: Assessing the applicability of cerebrospinal fluid collected from the spinal cord for the determination of ethyl alcohol in post-mortem toxicology
Authors: Paulina Wachholz
Rafał Skowronek
Natalia Pawlas
Publication date: 28-11-2022
Publisher: Springer US
Keyword: Autopsy
Published in: Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology / Issue 1/2023
Print ISSN: 1547-769X
Electronic ISSN: 1556-2891
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-022-00560-8

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Assessing the applicability of cerebrospinal fluid collected from the spinal cord for the determination of ethyl alcohol in post-mortem toxicology

Abstract

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