TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - PCR-based identification of drowning: four case reports
JO  - International journal of legal medicine
A1  - Rácz, Evelin
A1  - Könczöl, Franciska
A1  - Tóth, Dénes
A1  - Patonai, Zoltán
A1  - Porpáczy, Zoltán
A1  - Kozma, Zsolt
A1  - Poór, Viktor S.
A1  - Sipos, Katalin
SP  - 1303
EP  - 1307
VL  - 130
IS  - 5
N2  - Proper diagnosis in drowning victims is often difficult due to the lack of signs specific to drowning. The diatom test is a widely used procedure for the diagnosis. Some types of water contain only minimal amounts of diatom cells which may provide false-negative results, while a negative diatom test result does not exclude drowning. In proving drowning, we used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based biological method in addition to the conventional methods. DNA was extracted from postmortem spleen tissues and water of the drowning site. Samples were tested with algae (diatoms and small green algae)- and cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)-specific primers. We present here multiple drowning cases in which diatom tests of the postmortem tissue samples and the water were negative. In each case, the presence of phytoplanktonic DNA strengthened the autopsy diagnosis of drowning even in the absence of visible diatoms. In the future, the PCR method may be of consideration as a possible supplement of the diatom test in the examination of presumed drowning cases.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0937-9827
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00414-016-1359-7
ID  - ref1
ER  -