A Response to “Serum-Ethanol Determination: Comparison of Lactate and Lactate Dehydrogenase Interference in Three Enzymatic Assays”: Reply

Is there a role for ethanol assay using alcohol dehydrogenase in a basic drugs and alcohol screen of blood following routine autopsies?

“…We suggest the use of widely available autoanalysers in hospital laboratories to estimate drugs, and alcohol could prove a useful adjunct to the external examination that might also include imaging to reduce error. Gas chromatography (GC) is more time consuming and expensive than the automated enzymatic assay for ethanol (Nine et al, 1996). With the short turnaround times of less than one day, families would be less distressed by the death certification system.…”