A study on the application of the bran-new method of sampling and forensic for the identification of electrocution: 23 cases analysis
10.13618/j.issn.1001-5728.2018.02.012
- VernacularTitle:23例电击死尸检取材和法医鉴定方法研究
- Author:
Ruibing SU
1
;
Guangtao XU
;
Junyao LV
;
Jiamin LI
;
Dian WANG
;
Yun DENG
;
Xiaojun YU
Author Information
1. 汕头大学医学院法医学教研室
- Keywords:
forensic quantitative pathology;
electrocution;
soft tissues in anterior wrist and medial malleolus;
nuclear polarization.
- From:
Chinese Journal of Forensic Medicine
2018;33(2):167-171
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To confirm the optimal tissue sampling location of current injury combined with the histopathological observation in specific parts of electrocution based on previous animal experiments. Methods Twenty-three human cases from the autopsy through the hand-to-foot circuit pathway were analyzed. Additional ten autopsy patients who died from traffic accidents and sudden cardiac attacks were used as the control group. All cases were extracted the soft tissues from the upper anterior wrist and medial malleolus to further observe and analysis the L/S axis ratio of the nuclei of the skeletal muscle cells (SkMCs) and artery smooth muscle cells (ASMCs). Results The age of the 23 eligible electrical deaths ranged from 19 to 59 years, including 19 cases were male and 4 cases were female. 3 cases were high-voltage 20 cases were low voltage. The occurrence rate of electric marks averaged 31.18% in all cases. The incidence of the classical arborizing pattern of fine branching was 36.4%, appearing on the pleura in 5 cases (22.7%). The nuclei of the SkMCs and ASMCs nuclei in the anterior wrist and medial malleolus within the electrical current pathway were obviously stretched, narrowed, and coalesced, presenting a nuclear polarization and arranging as line-like and moniliform patterns. The L/S axis ratio of those nuclei in the anterior wrist and medial malleolus were markedly increased as compared with the control group (p < 0.001). Through the ROC curve analysis, the critical diagnostic values of the L/S axis ratio of those nuclei were respectively 4.84 and 3.81. Conclusion These findings suggest that the soft tissues of the anterior wrist and/or the medial malleolus, as the narrowest parts of the limbs, could be used as the sites for tissue sampling and considered as necessary locations for histopathological examinations to determine the electrocution in medicolegal identification.
