title: Postmortem diagnosis of hypertonic dehydration.
abstract: Beside morphological signs of hypertonic dehydration as tinting of skin, sunken eyes, dry surface of the galea or dry cutting areas of organs, a chemical profile of vitreous humor was proposed as a diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of hypertonic dehydration. The profile consists of an elevation of sodium >155 mmol/l, chloride >135 mmol/l and urea >40 mg/dl. This profile was named dehydration pattern. The value of this dehydration pattern for the diagnosis of hypertonic dehydration will be discussed by a short review of the literature and case reports. So far, the published literature on the dehydration pattern is not a sound scientific basis for the diagnosis of dehydration.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bonn, Stiftsplatz 12, 53111 Bonn, Germany. b.madea@uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Madea
authors.forename: Dirk W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Lachenmeier
mesh_terms: D002712:Chlorides / Q000032:analysis; D003681:Dehydration / Q000175:diagnosis*; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D012964:Sodium / Q000032:analysis; D014508:Urea / Q000032:analysis; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002712:Chlorides; D014508:Urea; D012964:Sodium