title: Electrolyte analysis in pleural effusion as an indicator of the drowning medium.
abstract: In medico-legal autopsies for drowned bodies, the location of drowning needs to be determined. To investigate the usefulness of electrolyte analysis in pleural effusion as an indicator of the location where the deceased has drowned, we determined the concentrations of electrolytes in the pleural effusion of rats drowned in four kinds of water. The concentrations of sodium and chloride ions in the pleural effusion of rats that drowned in seawater were significantly greater than those of rats that drowned in freshwater at both 1 day and 3 days after drowning. The concentration of potassium ions in pleural effusion 1 day after drowning showed no difference between each group, although it then increased from 1 to 3 days after seawater drowning, whereas it decreased from 1 to 3 days after freshwater drowning. The concentration of total protein in pleural effusion increased from 1 to 3 days after drowning, however, there was no significant difference in the concentration of total protein in pleural effusion between each group at either 1 day or 3 days after drowning. These results suggest that analysis of electrolytes in pleural effusion may be useful for determining whether drowning has occurred in seawater or in freshwater.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Pathology and Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Maidashi 3-1-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Tomomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004332:Drowning / Q000378:metabolism*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D005618:Fresh Water; D008297:Male; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011188:Potassium / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012016:Reference Values; D012623:Seawater; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012964:Sodium; D011188:Potassium