TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2003//
TI  - Possible postmortem serum markers for differentiation between fresh-, saltwater drowning and acute cardiac death: a preliminary investigation
JO  - Legal medicine (Elsevier)
A1  - Zhu, Bao-Li
A1  - Ishida, Kaori
A1  - Taniguchi, Mari
A1  - Quan, Linda
A1  - Oritani, Shigeki
A1  - Tsuda, Kohei
A1  - Kamikodai, Yasunobu
A1  - Fujita, Masaki Q.
A1  - Maeda, Hitoshi
SP  - S298
EP  - 301
VL  - 5
IS  - Suppl 1
N2  - 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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1344-6223
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -