Biological markers as an additional method of determining drowning

There is no specified diagnostic procedure that can help in determining the cause of death and the diagnosis of drowning because the pathohistological signs are almost identical and non-specified. Our study aims to recognize and prove diatom appearance in organs from a forensic aspect in Bosnia and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Open veterinary journal (Tripoli, Libya) Libya), 2024-11, Vol.14 (11), p.3047-3054
Main Authors: Dervišević, Emina, Čamdžić, Nina, Mašić, Ermin, Katica, Muhamed, Šuta, Nedim, Spahić, Edina, Lazović, Edina, Bešić, Aida
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biomarkers - analysis
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Diatoms - isolation & purification
Drowning - diagnosis
Drowning - pathology
Drowning - veterinary
forensic
keywords: diatom
Kidney - pathology
Male
microscopic
organs
postmortem
Rats
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Summary:There is no specified diagnostic procedure that can help in determining the cause of death and the diagnosis of drowning because the pathohistological signs are almost identical and non-specified. Our study aims to recognize and prove diatom appearance in organs from a forensic aspect in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to examine which is the more specific method in the diagnosis of drowning, the diatom test or the pathohistological finding. Rats of the recommended body weight were divided into four groups: G1 ( = 8; mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-suffocation, submerged 1 hour after death); G2 ( = 8: mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-suffocation, immersed 72 hours after death); G3 ( = 8: mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-drowning, autopsy immediately after death), and G4 ( = 8: mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-drowning, post mortem 24 hours after death). During the diatom analysis, four species of diatoms, , were successfully recovered from the stomach. Microscopic analysis did not detect diatoms in the kidneys and brains of rats, while the pathohistological changes were relatively uniform. Our results propose that the diatom test is a sustainable tool for supporting the diagnosis of drowning in the forensic pathology analysis of the cause of death. This experimental study is a starting point toward the optimization of tests and sampling in cases of unexplained etiology.
ISSN:2218-6050
2226-4485
2218-6050
DOI:10.5455/OVJ.2024.v14.i11.33