Abstract
1/2015
vol. 65
Review paper
Post-mortem diagnostics in cases of sepsis. Part 2. Biochemical and morphological examinations
Arch Med Sąd Kryminol 2015; 65 (1): 55–66
Online publish date: 2015/05/13
Contemporary post-mortem diagnostics of sepsis makes it possible to obtain multiple evidence verifying the cause of death which is valuable for forensic medicine. There are a number of reports indicating the usefulness of tests of inflammatory markers (chiefly C-reactive protein and procalcitonin) that are employed in clinical medicine. During medico-legal autopsy, it becomes necessary to perform a careful search of pathological symptoms and inflammatory foci – both during external and internal examinations. Although sepsis lacks pathognomonic lesions that can be identified by histopathological examination, it represents an intrinsic element of post-mortem diagnostics. In order to be able to interpret the findings and establish the cause of death, the evaluation must concurrently take into account the circumstances of death, clinical symptoms, results of microbiological and biochemical tests, autopsy findings and histopathological examination results.
Keywords
error in medico-legal opinion, invasive infection, inflammatory mediators, microscopic examination
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