Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Mar;127(2):379-84.
doi: 10.1007/s00414-012-0736-0. Epub 2012 Jul 7.

Can subclavian blood be equated with a peripheral blood sample? A series of 50 cases

Caroline Sastre  1 , Valérie Baillif-Couniou, Faustine Musarella, Christophe Bartoli, Julien Mancini, Marie-Dominique Piercecchi-Marti, Georges Leonetti, Anne-Laure Pelissier-Alicot
Affiliations

Can subclavian blood be equated with a peripheral blood sample? A series of 50 cases

Caroline Sastre et al. Int J Legal Med. 2013 Mar.

Abstract

If femoral blood is not available at autopsy, toxicological analyses, in particular blood ethanol measurements, are carried out on cardiac blood. This is known to be subject to major redistribution. We aimed to determine whether subclavian blood can be equated with a peripheral blood sample and could be used if femoral blood is not available. The study was based on 50 medicolegal autopsies in which we compared ethanol concentrations between subclavian blood, the different heart blood compartments (right and left cardiac blood), and femoral blood. Mechanisms that could lead to variations in concentration, i.e., postmortem redistribution and/or endogenous production, were also taken into account in interpreting the results. Ethanol concentrations were determined by headspace gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector. In each case, we recorded the circumstances of death, resuscitation attempts if any, degree of putrefaction, chest or abdominal trauma, and/or inhalation of gastric fluid in the airways. Ethanol concentrations in subclavian blood were found to be close to those in peripheral blood (p = 0.948) and were not influenced by the degree of putrefaction (r = 0.017, p = 0.904), gastric ethanol concentration (r = -0.011, p = 0.940), inhalation of gastric contents in the airways (p = 0.461), or cardiac resuscitation attempts (p = 0.368). We discuss the possible explanations for these findings and stress the value of sampling subclavian blood when femoral blood is not obtainable at autopsy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Forensic Sci Int. 2006 Jan 6;156(1):35-9 - PubMed
    1. J Forensic Sci. 1999 Jan;44(1):3-9 - PubMed
    1. Forensic Sci Int. 1994 Jan;64(1):47-55 - PubMed
    1. Biopharm Drug Dispos. 1988 Nov-Dec;9(6):513-26 - PubMed
    1. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1996 Mar;17(1):8-20 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

  NODES
twitter 2