The study found that CAT remains stable for an appreciable length of time after death and is not subject to major postmortem redistribution. It was not within the scope of the study to analyze the specificity and sensitivity of CAT in detecting chronic alcohol abuse in postmortem samples. The sensitivity and specificity of CAT for the diagnosis of excessive alcohol consumption have been shown in numerous clinical studies. The specificity and sensitivity in postmortem serum samples have been estimated to vary from 9 to 63 and 88 to 100 percent, respectively. The parallel analysis of 30 samples with CZE and HPLC showed a significant correlation. The inter-method variation was randomly distributed, so no systematic difference was observed. Additional studies on the use of CAT in autopsy diagnostics with CZE and HPLC are justified, because the methods are robust and resistant to postmortem changes. Blood samples were obtained from 70 corpses at the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Karolinska Institute. Four blood samples were collected from each case. The total number of samples was 280. Information was obtained on time of death, time of arrival at the morgue, and time to autopsy. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 18 references