Publication: Histological findings and immunohistochemical surfactant protein A -SP-A- expression in asphyxia, Its application in the diagnosis of drowning
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Date
2008
Authors
Sibón, A. ; Vizcaya, M.A. ; Gómez Zapata., Maximiliano ; Martínez Díaz, F. ; Luna Maldonado, Aurelio ; Osuna Carrillo-Albornoz, Eduardo Javier ; Pérez Cárceles, María Dolores
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Publisher
Murcia : F. Hernández
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DOI
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
The histopathological alterations that permit
the diagnosis of death by asphyxia are very unspecific,
although pulmonary alterations are of great importance
in this respect. The postmortem diagnosis of drowning,
particularly, continues to be one of the most difficult in
forensic pathology. The aim of this study is to jointly
evaluate microscopic findings and immunohistochemical surfactant protein A (SP-A) expression in the upper and
lower lobes of lungs in different causes of death, and their possible application to the diagnosis of drowning. We studied 120 cadavers from subjects with a mean age of 48.73 years (SD 19.45; range 2-86 years), and with a mean post-mortem interval of 30 hours (SD 39.59; range
3-216 hours). According to the scene, cause and
circumstances of death, and autopsy findings, cases were
classified into groups as follows: (a) drowning (n=47);
(b) other asphyxia (n=44) and (c) other causes (n=29). In
the upper and lower lobes of lungs, histological studies
of H&E staining and immunohistochemical surfactant protein A expression were made. The presence and severity of congestion, haemorrhage and oedema, together with immunohistochemical SP-A expression,
may have a diagnostic value in differentiating asphyxia and drowning from other causes of death, and drowning
from other types of asphyxia. Our findings suggest that
both lobes should be investigated to establish the
diagnosis, although the findings in the upper lobe might
be the most important for differentiating the exact cause
of death.
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