title: Detection of carbon monoxide poisoning that occurred before a house fire in three cases.
abstract: In our institutes, we perform a quantitative evaluation of volatile hydrocarbons in post-mortem blood in all fatal fire-related cases using headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry. We previously reported that benzene concentrations in the blood were positively correlated with carbon monoxide-hemoglobin (CO-Hb) concentrations in fire-related deaths. Here, we present 3 cases in which benzene concentrations in the blood were not correlated with CO-Hb concentrations. A high CO-Hb concentration without a hydrocarbon component, such as benzene, indicates that the deceased inhaled carbon monoxide that was not related to the smoke from the fire. Comparing volatile hydrocarbons with CO-Hb concentrations can provide more information about the circumstances surrounding fire-related deaths. We are currently convinced that this is the best method to detect if carbon monoxide poisoning occurred before a house fire started.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Electronic address: tooshima@med.akita-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oshima
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. Electronic address: yonemie@kumamoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kosei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yonemitsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. Electronic address: ako@kumamoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasao
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Electronic address: mohtani@doc.med.akita-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohtani
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Electronic address: mimasaka@med.akita-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Sohtaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mimasaka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001554:Benzene / Q000032:analysis; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000097:blood; D002249:Carbon Monoxide Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015208:Smoke Inhalation Injury / Q000097:blood; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D002248:Carbon Monoxide; D001554:Benzene
keywords: Carbon monoxide poisoning; Fire-related death; Forensic pathology; Gas chromatography mass spectrometry; Volatile hydrocarbon