Forensic aspects of postmortem serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin analysis as a marker of alcohol abuse.

Introduction: Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) has been suggested as one of alcohol abuse indicators having produced good results in forensic medicine for years.

Objective: The aim of the study was to identify correlation between present methodology of alcohol abuse diagnosis at autopsy (macroscopic and microscopic findings) and CDT examination using the method of isoelectrofocusing (IEF) in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). We also analyzed if the time interval between the moment of death and blood sample collection influences CDT findings.