TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1993//
TI  - Alcohol and sudden death: a survey on alcohol-related deaths at Tokyo metropolitan medical examiner's office (1989)
JO  - Arukoru Kenkyuto Yakubutsu Ison
A1  - Yuzuriha, T.
A1  - Nakamura, T.
A1  - Shoji, M.
A1  - Matsushita, S.
A1  - Takagi, Shunsuke
A1  - Kono, H.
SP  - 95
EP  - 119
VL  - 28
IS  - 3
N2  - Seven thousand three hundred seventy-six sudden or violent manner of deaths were inspected or autopsied at Tokyo Metropolitan Medical Examiner's Office in 1989. Out of these victims, 693 (9.4%) victims were regarded as heavy drinkers on the basis of the drinking habits and the autopsy reports and 196 (2.7%) victims without past problem drinking were thought to be drunk at death from the family statements or the blood alcohol analysis. The total 889 (12.1%) alcohol-related cases (autopsy was performed on the 489 cases) were studied from epidemiological and etiological viewpoints. The average age of the alcohol-related victims (male: 811, female: 78) was 52 +/- 11 years. In middle-aged (45-54 years) men, 34% of the all sudden or violent deaths were alcohol-related. About half of the alcohol-related victims were living alone and jobless and they often died at home, particularly in the bed. In the alcohol-related victims, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) analysis revealed that the average BAC of female was significantly higher than that of male. (2.12 +/- 1.73 mg/ml vs. 1.33 +/- 1.75, P < 0.01). This difference may be associated with sex difference in ethanol metabolism, body composition and drinking habits. Among the major causes of the alcohol-related deaths, alcoholic liver diseases accounted for 226 (25%), gastro-intestinal bleedings for 115 (13%), cardiovascular diseases for 105 (12%) and violent deaths (e.g., acute alcohol intoxication, falls, traffic accidents, suicide) for 329 (37%). By histopathological examination of the liver, about 30% of the alcoholic liver disease cases showed mainly fatty metamorphosis and 48% showed liver cirrhosis. Only 12% of the cirrhotics had either jaundice or ascites, suggesting hepatic failure. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy was suspected in only 11 cases. In conclusion, many people, particularly middle-aged men, lose their lives due to heavy drinking and there are many pathologically unexplainable sudden deaths of alcoholics.<p />  <p>Language: ja</p>
LA  - ja
SN  - 0389-4118
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -