Ethanol-related death of a child: an unusual case report.
The report describes a fatal outcome in a 5-year-old male who died after drinking a fatal dose of ethanol at the party held by his parents. Urine and blood alcohol level of the deceased was 0.4 and 0.5 g/dL, what might explain the sudden death of the child. In addition, the analysis of the boy's hair demonstrated the presence of ethyl glucuronide (EtG), a marker of alcohol consumption; hair EtG concentration levels indicated that the boy might have occasionally imbibed alcohol prior to death. Pathological lesions of the liver observed in histopathology did not contradict such a hypothesis.
Kłys
Małgorzata
M
Institute of Forensic Medicine, Department of Toxicology, Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum, 16 Grzegórzecka Street, 31-531 Krakow, Poland. mpklys@cyf-kr.edu.pl
Woźniak
Krzysztof
K
Rojek
Sebastian
S
Rzepecka-Woźniak
Ewa
E
Kowalski
Piotr
P
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000032:analysis / Q000506:poisoning*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis / Q000506:poisoning*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000473:pathology; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D005965:Glucuronates / Q000032:analysis; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male
D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D005965:Glucuronates; C093924:ethyl glucuronide; D000431:Ethanol