Untersuchungen �ber die Relationen von Blutkuchen-Vollblut-(Serum-)Alkoholwerten

Blood alcohol concentration in the clinical laboratory: a narrative review of the preanalytical phase in diagnostic and forensic testing

“…Since the formation of clots causes a minimal loss of protein and there is no sizable bound fraction of EtOH, the serum/plasma ratio of BAC is almost unity with very low variability (CV 0.01% to 0.03%) ( 72 , 118 ). However, since both the size and the water content (by 40% to 80% w/v) of clots is highly variable, the formation of clots within a whole blood specimen alters the distribution of water and makes unpredictable the bias caused by the inhomogeneity of the BAC ( 119 , 120 ). Thus, a specimen of whole blood with clots should be homogenized before the determination of BAC but the negative bias arising from the grinding process averages - 0.01 g/L ( 121 ).…”

“…The systematic study of the preparation and storage of the sample, in fact, represents the way (documented since 1940) to give a scientifically authoritative answer to the disputes about the BAC measurement results often raised in cases of drunk driving ( 35 , 61 , 143 , 144 ). As evident, this review is distinguished by the citation of a large number of articles originally written in German, many of which represent a unique source of evidence on certain aspects of the preanalytics of the BAC (see for instance references ( 119 , 120 )). The journals that have published many of these articles, such as “Blutalkohol” (ISSN: 0006-5250, https://www.bads.de/wissen/fachzeitschrift-blutalkohol/ ) and “Deutsche Zeitschrift für die gesamte gerichtliche Medizin” (in later “Zeitschrift für Rechtsmedizin” and currently “International Journal of Legal Medicine”), played a leading scientific role in studies on the determination of BAC during the second half of the 21st century ( 145 ).…”