Citation

Zhu BL, Ishida K, Taniguchi M, Quan L, Oritani S, Tsuda K, Kamikodai Y, Fujita MQ, Maeda H. Leg. Med. (Elsevier) 2003; 5(Suppl 1): S298-301.

Affiliation

Department of Legal Medicine, Osaka City University Medical School, Asahi-machi 1-4-3, Abeno, Osaka 545-8585, Japan. baolizhu@med.osaka-cu.ac.jp

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Japanese Society of Legal Medicine, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12935616

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the differences in postmortem blood biochemistry between fresh-, saltwater drowning and acute myocardial infarction/ischemia (AMI) (n=11, n=15 and n=23, respectively; postmortem interval <48 h). Left and right cardiac blood samples were examined for the serum markers: sodium (Na), chloride (Cl), magnesium (Mg), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), pulmonary surfactant-associated protein A (SP-A) and cardiac troponin T (cTn-T). The most efficient markers were the left-right cardiac BUN ratio for determination of drowning (hemodilution) and the left heart blood Mg level for differentiation between fresh- and saltwater aspiration. A characteristic feature of saltwater drowning was a low left-right BUN ratio and a marked elevation in the serum Cl, Mg and Ca levels of the left heart blood. Serum cTn-T level was usually low in drownings, showing a difference from most cases of AMI. Freshwater drowning showed a significant elevation of serum SP-A, although there was considerable overlapping with saltwater drowning and AMI. These findings suggested the usefulness of serum markers in the investigation of death from drownings.

Language: en