Ethanol in Sequestered Hematomas: Quantitative Evaluation

Abstract

When death is delayed after injury, blood collected from sequestered hematomas (subdural, epidural, and intracerebral) may reflect the presence of ethanol in the circulating blood at the time of the injury. The authors have examined a series of cases in which such a situation occurred and in which a circulating blood ethanol level was determined shortly after the injury. In essentially all of the cases, the ethanol level in the hematoma was lower than that in the blood sample drawn shortly after the injury. In a group of cases where death occurred immediately, ethanol concentrations in sequestered sites approximated those in blood drawn from the aorta. Possible mechanisms for the decrease in the concentration of ethanol in the sequestered hematomas are discussed.