Forensic utility of carboxyhemoglobin levels in postmortem spleen specimens in South Korea.
Forensic Sci Int
; 361: 112107, 2024 Aug.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38878614
ABSTRACT
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 43.1-97.5â¯%, whereas in individuals without any feature of CO poisoning had COHb level high as 29.8â¯%. 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 30â¯% may be considered as a contributing factor to but not exclusively as the cause of death.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Spleen
/
Carboxyhemoglobin
/
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
/
Forensic Pathology
/
Fires
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Forensic Sci Int
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article