Postmortem Analyses of Gaseous and Volatile Substances in Pericardial Fluid and Bone Marrow Aspirate

Abstract

A previous study suggested the usefulness of pericardial fluid (PCF) and bone marrow aspirate (BMA) for the postmortem analysis of ethanol. The present study reviewed forensic autopsy cases (n = 2,983), which included 683 cases with the following positive toxicological findings, to reassess ethanol distribution and to investigate other gaseous and volatile substances in blood, PCF and BMA. Toxicological analyses detected ethanol (>10 mg/dL, n = 345), acetone (>0.01 mg/dL, n = 402), cyanide (n = 282), toluene (n = 47), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, n = 1), cresol (n = 1), trichloroethylene (TCE, n = 1) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S, n = 5) in 683 cases. Ethanol and acetone levels showed good correlations among right heart/peripheral blood, PCF and BMA with a few exceptions. Inhaled cyanide in a fire fatality and H2S in suicidal inhalation were substantially lower in PCF than in blood and BMA; however, ingested cyanide showed a higher level in PCF. Distribution of inhaled toluene largely varied by case; however, BMA levels were about twice as high as blood levels in abusers (n = 7). Inhaled LPG and TCE were also higher in BMA than in blood, whereas ingested cresol showed similar distributions in blood and PCF. These observations suggest the usefulness of PCF and BMA as alternatives to blood for postmortem toxicological analysis. The inclusion of these materials in routine analysis may be also useful to investigate pharmacokinetics and toxicokinetics in the death process and the influence of postmortem redistribution/diffusion.

Determination of Seven Antidepressants in Pericardial Fluid by Means of Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

“…The potential use of PF samples has been considered within relatively few reports ( 7–13 ). Previous studies showed good correlation with the drug concentrations in peripheral blood ( 8 , 10 , 14 , 15 ). PF is a well-preserved postmortem material in cases without structural damage due to injury or medical intervention and can easily be collected in large amounts without significant contamination as it is contained within a tight compartment (pericardial sac), compared with other body fluids ( 13 ).…”

Determination of Toluene and Xylene Levels in Postmortem Tissues of Rats as a Human Autopsy Process

“…Although there are case studies and analytical studies on the detection of hydrocarbons in blood and tissues in the postmortem period in the literature, the number of studies on the changes in the levels of these substances in the postmortem period is limited. (10,11) Toxicological analyzes made in autopsies are very helpful in elucidating the cause of death. Due to the inadequacy of toxicological analyzes and the scarcity of studies in some case reports thought to be death due to toluene and xylene, the need to reveal the relationship between toluene and xylene detected in toxicological analyzes with the cause of death and the time elapsed after death has arisen.…”

Prospects and Challenges of Volatile Organic Compound Sensors in Human Healthcare

“…The presence of inflammation and oxidative stress modulate the release of VOCs from SF which cause osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Tominaga et al conducted toxicological analysis for serial forensic autopsy cases and compared PCF with peripheral blood to reassess the post-mortem distribution of ethanol and to examine the dispersal of other VOCs . However, the invasive nature of the detection mechanism from ISFs is always laborious, expensive, and inefficient for real-time detection.…”