title: A comparison of carboxyhemoglobin saturation values in postmortem heart blood and peripheral blood specimens.
abstract: The following is a study conducted to determine whether there was any significant difference in carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) saturation levels between the heart blood and blood collected from a peripheral site. The average heart blood to peripheral blood COHb saturation level ratio in the 42 cases studied was 1.09. Sixty-two percent (26 of 42) of the cases had a heart blood to peripheral blood ratio between 0.9 and 1.1; 74% (31 of 42) had a ratio between 0.8 and 1.2. Eighty-three percent (35 of 42) had a ratio between 0.7 and 1.3. There were four cases where the heart blood to peripheral blood ratio was either below 0.6 or greater than 1.4. The differences between the two sites were not statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: Karla A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Jack M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Titus
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fowler
mesh_terms: D001775:Blood Circulation; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods*; D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin / Q000032:analysis*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006321:Heart; D006801:Humans; D011180:Postmortem Changes
chemical_list: D002263:Carboxyhemoglobin