Abstract
Objectives: Estimation of post mortem interval (PMI) remains one of the most difficult challenges to a medicolegal expert. Postmortem biochemical changes may provide chemical markers to help more accurate determination of the postmortem interval. Obtaining postmortem blood samples is a simple and non invasive procedure. The purpose of the study was first, to compare time dependent changes in concentrations of NADH, ammonia and uric acid versus morphological changes of white blood cells of in-vitro stored and postmortem blood samples for each time points 0, 12,24,48and72h. Second to find out an objective and quantitative standard for the estimation of postmortem interval. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out on blood samples collected from 30 healthy volunteers (group I) and 30 medicolegal autopsy cases (group II). Changes in concentration of NADH, ammonia and uric acid were recorded at (0, 12, 24, 48 and 72h) of postmortem and storage periods. Also, blood films have been examined using a light microscope after staining with Giemsa stain to observe and compare morphological changes of white blood cells at the previous time intervals. Results: Concentrations of NADH, ammonia were significantly increased with time in (group II) while, uric acid showed no significance increase between both groups for the whole 72 hours. Also, degenerative morphological changes in white blood cells were in the form of pyknosis, cytoplasmic and nuclear vacuolation, nuclear fragmentation and disintegration. These changes were the same in both groups all over the time points of the study. Conclusion: From the previous results, it can be concluded that there were time dependent changes in NADH and ammonia levels, degenerative morphological changes of white blood cells. Also, there was a strong positive correlation between concentrations of plasma NADH and neutrophilic changes all over the time points of the study in the medicolegal autopsy cases.
Highlights
Determination of the time of death is important in both criminal and civil cases
The results of the present study showed that the concentration of plasma NADH of autopsy cases were significantly increased through postmortem time points as compared with control group
The results of the present study revealed that plasma uric acid of control group and autopsy cases showed no significance increase above the normal range all over the time points of the study
Summary
A precise estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) helps setting the time of the murder, verifying witnesses’ statements and limiting the number of suspects. It is of crucial importance in civil law, since it may influence the order of inheritance or possible commitments resulting from the order of deaths (Salam et al, 2012). The postmortem interval (PMI) is the time between the death of an individual and the postmortem autopsy of the body. This variable is an essential component of any death investigation. Though the exact time of death can rarely be estimated on the basis of autopsy findings alone, an appropriate range of PMI can be deduced by intelligent
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