Unusual productions of endogenous alcohol: report of two autopsy cases

We experienced two autopsy cases in which endogenous alcohol productions by saprogens had been unusual. Case 1 is a victim found in a mountain stream 3 to 4 weeks after his death. Since ethanol and n-propanol concentrations in the right intrathoracic bloody fluid, pericardial sac fluid, and blood in the right side of the heart were 0.41 mg/g and 0.052 mg/g, 0.42 mg/g and 0.032 mg/g, and 0.45 mg/g and 0.025 mg/g, respectively. The ethanol detected in those specimens appeared to have been produced postmortem. The femoral muscle and urine, however, contained very little n-propanol though the ethanol levels were 0.21 mg/g and 0.05 mg/g, respectively. Thus, we judged the victim might have died soon after drinking a little alcohol. Case 2 is a victim who was stabbed in the abdomen (liver) with a knife and died due to hemorrhagic shock after 26.5 hours in spite of a peritoneotomy. It was probable that metabolic activities of the liver had decreased significantly after getting a wound. Almost 1 mg/g of ethanol and little n-propanol were detected in the heart blood. In the intraabdominal bloody fluid, however, 2.45 mg/g of ethanol and 0.079 mg/g of n-propanol were detected. n-Propanol level in the bloody fluid is equal to that in severely decomposed body and indicates that a large amount of ethanol was endogenously produced. It may be considered that the unusual ethanol production was caused by the severe peritonitis after the operation.