[Cases of acute fatal alcohol poisoning in the material of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University in Białystok, in the years 1984-2004].

The paper presents the analysis of acute fatal ethanol poisonings in the material of the Forensic Medicine Institute in Białystok. Our study has shown that a predominant majority of the deceased died during the phase of alcohol elimination. Moreover, these people were often in good health and generally fit. In view of the immense material analyzed by the present authors and the 20-year time span under investigation, it may be concluded that middle-aged men constitute a group the highest risk of death resulting from acute alcohol poisoning. The assessment of alcohol concentration in blood and other body liquids, for example in urine, allows for defining the phase when death of an alcohol-imbibing individual occurred. In medico-legal and clinical practice, such a determination is very important in terms of initiating appropriate treatment or specifying the mechanism of death.