Analysis of postmortem biochemical findings with regard to the lung weight in drowning

Maeda, Hitoshi; Zhu, Bao‐Li; Ishikawa, Takaki; Quan, Li; Michiue, Tomomi; Bessho, Yasumori; Okazaki, Shuji; Kamikodai, Yasunobu; Tsuda, Kohei; Komatsu, Ayumi; Azuma, Yoko

doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2009.01.029

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This was attributed to the effects of hemodilution in freshwater drowning and hemoconcentration in saltwater drowning. A similar trend in electrolyte values has been demonstrated in blood and other fluids, including pleural and pericardial effusion fluid, following drowning (8)(9)(10).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Vitreous Humor Sodium Levels in Immersion Deaths

Byard

Summersides

2011

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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To determine whether vitreous humor sodium levels might be of use in evaluating deaths associated with immersion, samples of vitreous humor were prospectively evaluated at autopsy over a 4-year period from 2006 to 2009. There were 19 cases of saltwater immersion (age range 9-76 years; mean age 44 years; M:F, 2.8:1) and 16 freshwater immersions (age range 2-81 years; mean age 27 years; M:F, 2.2:1). In the group of saltwater drownings, vitreous humor sodium levels were elevated, ranging from 145 to 184 mM (mean = 160.2 ± 9.9 mM), and in the cases of freshwater drowning, the levels were reduced, ranging from 73 to 148 mM (mean = 129.8 ± 17 mM; p < 0.0001). Alterations in electrolyte levels may have been because of hemoconcentration or dilution from electrolyte fluxes in the lungs, or from passive diffusion during immersion. This study has demonstrated that vitreous sodium level is an easily performed test that may be a useful adjunct to the investigation of possible immersion deaths.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Vitreous Humor Sodium Levels in Immersion Deaths

Byard

Summersides

2011

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…Establishing drowning as a cause of death can be difficult. Evidence showing aspiration of the immersion medium and the subsequent mechanism of death should be forthcoming [79]. Lung weight and diatom analysis help assess the cause of death.…”

Section: Drowningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postmortem biochemistry: Current applications

Belsey

Flanagan

2016

Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine

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The results of biochemical analyses in specimens obtained postmortem may aid death investigation when diabetic and alcoholic ketoacidosis is suspected, when death may have been the result of drowning, anaphylaxis, or involved a prolonged stress response such as hypothermia, and in the diagnosis of disease processes such as inflammation, early myocardial infarction, or sepsis. There is often cross-over with different disciplines, in particular with clinical and forensic toxicology, since some endogenous substances such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and insulin can be used as poisons. The interpretation of results is often complicated because of the likelihood of postmortem change in analyte concentration or activity, and proper interpretation must take into account all the available evidence. The unpredictability of postmortem changes means that use of biochemical measurements in time of death estimation has little value. The use of vitreous humour is beneficial for many analytes as the eye is in a physically protected environment, this medium may be less affected by autolysis or microbial metabolism than blood, and the assays can be performed with due precaution using standard clinical chemistry analysers. However, interpretation of results may not be straightforward because (i) defined reference ranges in life are often lacking, (ii) there is a dearth of knowledge regarding, for example, the speed of equilibration of many analytes between blood, vitreous humour, and other fluids that may be sampled, and (iii) the effects of post-mortem change are difficult to quantify because of the lack of control data. A major limitation is that postmortem vitreous glucose measurements are of no help in diagnosing antemortem hypoglycaemia.

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“…Biventricular strontium differences (Pérez-Cárceles et al 2012) have been reassessed and new studies on a range of biochemical findings (Maeda et al 2009) performed. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDX) has been tested for bromide detection in blood (Takahashi et al 2010).…”

Section: Electrolytesmentioning

confidence: 99%