Forensic utility of carboxyhemoglobin levels in postmortem spleen specimens in South Korea.

Autor: Lee M; Daejeon District Office, National Forensic Service, Daejeon 34054, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: leemiyeon0701@korea.kr., Kim HJ; Forensic Chemical Division, National Forensic Service, Wonju 26460, Republic of Korea., Lee D; Daejeon District Office, National Forensic Service, Daejeon 34054, Republic of Korea., Kim Y; Forensic Chemical Division, National Forensic Service, Wonju 26460, Republic of Korea., Park W; Forensic Chemical Division, National Forensic Service, Wonju 26460, Republic of Korea., Jo YH; Daejeon District Office, National Forensic Service, Daejeon 34054, Republic of Korea.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Forensic science international [Forensic Sci Int] 2024 Aug; Vol. 361, pp. 112107. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jun 12.
DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2024.112107
Abstrakt: In order to determine whether CO poisoning was the definitive cause of death, the concentration of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) in spleen specimens was analyzed using a gas chromatography-thermal conductivity detector. 125 cases of forensic autopsy reports containing COHb analysis requests were analyzed and subdivided into two groups, improbable and highly probable of CO intoxication. In the first group which consists of 100 cases, the results of COHb analysis were negative, and the circumstances of death, as well as the postmortem findings could not validate the exposure to CO. In the second group which consists of 25 cases, the results of COHb were positive, and both postmortem findings and circumstances of death confirmed the exposure to CO. In the cases of indoors and vehicle fires or those including the use of briquettes, COHb levels reached 43.1-97.5 %, whereas in individuals without any feature of CO poisoning had COHb level high as 29.8 %. However, certain cases without any connection to fire nor CO exposure also contained significant amount of CO based on post-mortem analysis. This study focuses on cases without any relationship to fire or CO and proves that COHb levels below 30 % may be considered as a contributing factor to but not exclusively as the cause of death.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: