Citation

Ha H, Sim YT. Korean J. Leg. Med. (2014) 2022; 46(2): 55-58.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Korean Society for Legal Medicine)

DOI

10.7580/kjlm.2022.46.2.55

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

For the diagnosis of drowning in immersed bodies, the diatom test has been controversial due to false-negative and false-positive results. Causes of false positive results include antemortem penetration of diatoms, and postmortem contamination during the submersion or the diatom preparation process. Herein, we report a false-positive case in a 30-year-old woman who died from homicidal multiple stab wounds and was thrown into a shallow farm waterway approximately 10 days after her death. In addition, a discussion on the false-positive diatom test results in immersed bodies with penetrating wounds is provided.


Keyword

Diatoms; Drowning; Autopsy; False-positive reactions; Stab wounds

Language: ko