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Hyperthermia and postmortem biochemical investigations

Palmiere, Cristian ; Mangin, Patrice

In: International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2013, vol. 127, no. 1, p. 93-102

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    Title
    • Hyperthermia and postmortem biochemical investigations
    Author
    • Palmiere, Cristian. University Centre of Legal Medicine, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland
    • Mangin, Patrice. University Centre of Legal Medicine, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211, Genève, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2013, vol. 127, no. 1, p. 93-102. Springer-Verlag
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:317429
    Summary
    The postmortem diagnosis of heat-related deaths presents certain difficulties. Firstly, preterminal or terminal body temperatures are often not available. Additionally, macroscopic and microscopic findings are nonspecific or inconclusive and depend on survival duration after exposure. The diagnosis of hyperthermia is therefore essentially based on scene investigation, the circumstances of death, and the reasonable exclusion of other causes of death. Immunohistochemistry and postmortem biochemical investigations have been performed by several authors in order to better circumstantiate the physiopathology of hyperthermia and provide further information to confirm or exclude a heat-related cause of death. Biochemical markers, such as electrolytes, hormones, blood proteins, enzymes, and neurotransmitters, have been analyzed in blood and other biological fluids to improve the diagnostic potential of autopsy, histology, and immunohistochemistry. The aim of this article is to present a review of the medicolegal literature pertaining to the postmortem biochemical investigations that are associated with heat-related deaths