title: Diagnostic efficacy of biochemical markers in diagnosis post-mortem of ischaemic heart disease.
abstract: In forensic medicine, there is a need for more sensitive biochemical markers for the post-mortem diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. A study of the distribution of biochemical markers in different fluids is of great significance in post-mortem diagnosis, because their distribution depends on the location of tissue damage and release kinetics. The aim of this study is to compare the sensitivities and specificities of creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), myoglobin and cTnI in serum and pericardial fluid for the post-mortem diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We studied 188 cadavers selected during 1 year from medicolegal autopsies. The groups were as follows: (1) myocardial infarction (n = 52); (2) asphyxia (n = 59); (3) multiple trauma (n = 41); (4) natural deaths excluding myocardial infarction (n = 36). We obtained statistically significant differences in pericardial fluid for all the biochemical markers, the highest levels being obtained in the group of cadavers who had died from myocardial infarction. A common factor is the high negative predictive value found in biochemical markers, which is contrary to the findings obtained in clinical practice, when the percentages of sensitivity are very high.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Murcia, E-30100 Espinardo, Murcia, Spain. mdperez@um.es
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Pérez-Cárceles
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Noguera
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luna
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Osuna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D002102:Cadaver; D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009211:Myoglobin / Q000032:analysis*; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000737:chemistry; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019210:Troponin I / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D009211:Myoglobin; D019210:Troponin I; D003402:Creatine Kinase