Reduction in Purkinje fiber number in rats undergone fatal electrocution.
Purkinje fibers in cardiac conduction tissue during fatal electrocution. A total of 16 Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 2 groups as follows: the electrocution group and the control group.Animals were deeply anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital and, in the electrocution group, all 8 rats underwent a fatal electrical shock (220 v,50 Hz) followed by cervical dislocation. In the control group, all 8 rats underwent execution by cervical dislocation. Following death, hearts were rapidly excised and perfused with 1% paraformaldehyde before tissues of the left ventricular anterior wall (LVAW) were isolated. The microscopic structure of the Purkinje fibers were subsequently analyzed using conventional hematoxylin and eosin staining. A majority of the Purkinje fibers were located in groups among the cardiac muscle of the LVAW. A significant reduction in Purkinje fiber expression was displayed in the electrocution group compared with the control group (P G 0.05).The mean total number of Purkinje fibers for the electrocution and control groups were 59 T 11 and 3287 T 19 cells, respectively (P G 0.05).The estimated number of Purkinje fibers in the LVAW of the control group was significantly greater than observed in the electrocution group(41.09 T 0.24 vs. 0.7375 T 0.14, P G 0.05). The findings of the current study suggest that such a reduction would be reflected in abnormal cardiac conduction and a possible cause of sudden death.
Huang
Quan-Yong
QY
Department of Forensic Pathology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Chen
Yu-Chuan
YC
Liu
Shui-Ping
SP
D000818:Animals; D004556:Electric Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy; D011690:Purkinje Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013194:Staining and Labeling