Abstract
BackgroundThis study aims to detect myoglobin staining in the cases in which were suspected that intoxication was the cause of death.Materials and methodThis study selected the drug-related death cases including those with toxic blood levels of substances. These drug-related death cases were classified into two groups: (1) suggestive of intoxication death group and (2) other causes of death group which was control group. The kidneys of all these cases were immunohistochemically stained with the myoglobin antibody for rhabdomyolysis diagnosis.ResultsThere were 50 drug-related deaths separated into 28 study cases and 22 control cases. The positive myoglobin stain was found in 17 cases (60.7%) in the study group and 5 cases (22.7%) in the control group. The difference between two groups was statistically significant (p = 0.007).ConclusionsMyoglobin detection in kidney by immunohistochemistry should be done to help for confirming the cause of deaths in these drug-related death cases.
Highlights
This study aims to detect myoglobin staining in the cases in which were suspected that intoxication was the cause of death
Rhabdomyolysis eventuating in acute renal failure can help forensic pathologists to ascertain that the cause of death should be from illicit drugs and alcohol intoxication
Compared with the control group, about 60% of the study group had rhabdomyolysis, which was significantly higher than the control group at 20%, both groups were detected with toxic levels
Summary
This study aims to detect myoglobin staining in the cases in which were suspected that intoxication was the cause of death. Intoxication, one of the world’s major problems, is a common cause of death in unnatural fatality cases, which have been autopsied. To certify the cause of death, in principle, forensic pathologists need to apply three main factors: the autopsy findings, the toxicology results, and the history and circumstance of death (Gil, 2017; Dimaio & Dimaio, 2001). Forensic pathologists conclude that death from intoxication is very difficult. This is because drug and intoxication deaths are largely functional, and there are few definitive gross or microscopic findings at the autopsy to confirm the diagnosis (Gil, 2017).
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