[Application of Ischemia Modified Albumin for Acute Ischemic Heart Disease in Forensic Science].

OBJECTIVES: To explore the application value and forensic significance of ischemia modified albumin （IMA） in pericardial fluid to diagnose sudden cardiac death. METHODS: IMA level in pericardial fluid was detected in acute ischemic heart disease group （n=36）, acute myocardial infarction group （n=6）, cardiomyopathy group （n=4） and control group （n=15） by albumin cobalt binding method. The levels of IMA were compared among these groups. The best cut-off IMA value was estimated and the sensitivity and specificity of acute myocardial ischemia group was distinguished from control group by receiver operating characteristics （ROC） curve. RESULTS: The IMA level in acute ischemic heart disease group was significantly higher than that of control group （P<0.05）. Compared with acute myocardial infarction group and cardiomyopathy group, the IMA level in acute ischemic heart disease group had no significant difference （P>0.05）. The cut-off value for the identification of acute myocardial ischemia which obtained by ROC analysis was 40.65 U/mL. And the sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing acute ischemia cardiac disease was 60.0% and 80.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The IMA value in pericardial fluid can be a reference marker for the diagnosis of acute myocardial ischemia, which also can provide objective basis for the forensic identification of sudden cardiac death.