The estimation of Mg2+ concentration in cerebrospinal fluid (C.S.F.) as a method of drowning diagnosis in sea water

Evaluation of postmortem serum calcium and magnesium levels in relation to the causes of death in forensic autopsy

“…This was similar to clinical findings in saltwater near-drowning cases [25,26]. A significant elevation in the left cardiac levels of both markers compared with those in the other sites suggested the influence of saltwater aspiration [27][28][29][30]. Although an elevated serum Ca level was also observed in fire fatalities and freshwater drowning, these groups showed a higher level in the peripheral blood, suggesting an increase of skeletal muscle origin.…”

Factors affecting strontium absorption in drownings

“…Most diagnoses are based on a series of unspecific autopsy findings such as froth around the mouth and nostrils and lung distension, along with the results of laboratory tests such as the presence of diatoms [1][2][3][4] or biochemical markers [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. In many cases, however, these signs may fail when the body is in an advanced stage of putrefaction.…”

“…It is known that factors such as lung weight [15][16][17][18][19] or arterial blood levels of elements including strontium (Sr) [8][9][10][11][12], magnesium (Mg) [6,7] and boron (B) increase considerably with the amount of aspirated water in seawater drownings, and can be used as a measure of the volume of water aspirated and therefore to diagnose drowning. Magnesium levels in left ventricular blood increase less as a consequence of drowning than Sr concentrations [14], and the former could be insensitive to a small volume of aspirated water such as may occur in cases of sudden death in the water.…”