As acute alcohol intake can trigger suicidal ideas and attempts in people already at risk, and self-aggression is more intense after alcohol consumption, the aim of this study is to assess the relationship between blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the lethality of suicide methods. A number of different socio-demographic and clinical predictors related to selection of high lethality methods were evaluated. This retrospective autopsy study covers an 11-year period of autopsies performed in the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade. It included 308 subjects with confirmed BAC above 0‰ who committed suicide. The suicide methods were dichotomized in terms of lethality – low lethality methods (LLM – drug/chemical overdose or use of a sharp object, n = 20) and high lethality methods (HLM – hanging, firearms and explosives, drowning, jumping from a height and immolation, n = 288). Our study did not reveal a statistically significant relationship between alcohol concentration and HLM. There is an obvious trend of HLM in rising BAC categories, but without any statistical significance. Of all tested predictors, only the male gender has significant correlation with HLM (p = 0.036). Despite the absence of correlation between BAC and HLM, the rising trend in BAC in our study showed, along with opposing literature data, that we can conclude this interconnection is highly complex.

Introduction. Even though lipomas are the most common benign tumors, they are rarely found in the pericardial cavity. Although histopathological benign, they can cause lifethreatening complications by rapid growth and, therefore, clinically may be considered as malignant. Case report. We present a case of an 80-year-old female who was injured during syncopial episode, when falling from standing height and later died in the hospital without an obvious cause of death. At the autopsy, a dilated and tense pericardium filling up a large part of the chest cavity was noted. A well-encapsulated soft tissue mass, 20x18x3cm in size and measuring 820 g, was visualized in the pericardial cavity. Histopathological examination revealed that the mass was lipoma and showed acute myocardial necrosis and, therefore, it was assumed that the cause of death was myocardial infarction, probably due to the compression of lipoma on coronary arteries. Conclusion. Even though intrapericardial lipomas are benign tumors, they can cause life-threatening complications and sudden cardiac death. There are numerous diagnostic methods capable of detecting intrapericardial lipomas, and with timely treatment patient can be cured.