Elevated Cerebrospinal Fluid Sodium and Chloride Levels in a Saltwater Drowning Death.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_E56C638B2C24
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Elevated Cerebrospinal Fluid Sodium and Chloride Levels in a Saltwater Drowning Death.
Journal
The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology
Author(s)
Garland J., Philcox W., Kesha K., McCarthy S., Lam LCS, Palmiere C., Hensby-Bennett S., Stables S., Tse R.
ISSN
1533-404X (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0195-7910
Publication state
Published
Issued date
09/2019
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
40
Number
3
Pages
258-261
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Case Reports ; Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
To ascribe a cause of death from drowning in a body immersed in water can be difficult because of the absence of specific postmortem findings and unreliable ancillary tests. Postmortem vitreous biochemical analysis is documented to be a useful adjunct ancillary test to aid the diagnosis of saltwater drowning. A major confounding factor in using postmortem vitreous is the effect of electrolyte diffusion and water osmosis during immersion. A recent animal study suggested that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biochemical analysis, which is unaffected by immersion, may be an alternative. However, to date, there are no human data to support this. We report a saltwater drowning death from presumed suicide in which the postmortem CSF sodium and chloride level was elevated compared with nonimmersion deaths. This case gives evidence to support the potential use of postmortem CSF sodium and chloride level as an adjunct to the diagnosis of saltwater drowning.
Keywords
Biomarkers/cerebrospinal fluid, Chlorides/cerebrospinal fluid, Drowning/diagnosis, Forensic Medicine, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Seawater, Sodium/cerebrospinal fluid, Suicide, Vitreous Body/chemistry
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
18/02/2019 11:32
Last modification date
12/09/2019 6:10
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