A fatal case of oral ingestion of methanol. Distribution in postmortem tissues and fluids including pericardial fluid and vitreous humor.
A 41-year-old man ingested orally a large quantity of methanol and was found dead at home. The presence of methanol in body fluids and tissues was determined by head-space gas chromatography. The blood ethanol and acetone were negative. Tissue distribution of methanol showed that the kidney presented the highest content of methanol (5.13 g/kg) followed by liver (4.18 g/kg), vitreous humor (3.96 g/l), heart (3.45 g/kg), urine (3.43 g/l), pericardial fluid (3.29 g/l), blood (2.84 g/l) and finally stomach content (2.21 g/l).
Pla
A
A
Department of Legal Medicine, University of Granada, Spain.
Hernandez
A F
AF
Gil
F
F
Garcia-Alonso
M
M
Villanueva
E
E
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D000432:Methanol / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000506:poisoning*; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D000432:Methanol