Balci Yasemin, Basmak Hikmet, Kocaturk B Kenan, Sahin Afsun, Ozdamar Kazim
Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2010 Jun;31(2):151-5. doi: 10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181dd7933.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate postmortem eye changes and to investigate the relationship between these changes and time elapsed after death.
The eyes of 100 noncriminal cases who had died while being treated at Eskisehir Osmangazi University (ESOGU) hospital were evaluated for corneal turbidity and tache noire macroscopically, and also repeatedly evaluated by ophthalmoscope, pupilometer, and tonometer at intervals until removal from hospital. The postmortem time, corneal turbidity, development of tache noire, pupil size, intraocular pressure (IOP), and fundus findings were recorded. The relationship between these findings and the postmortem interval (PMI) was evaluated.
No relationship between tache noire development and postmortem time (P > 0.05) was found. The corneal turbidity ratio increased significantly at 8 hours after decease (P < 0.01). No relationship between right-left pupil size and postmortem time (P > 0.05) was found. There was, however, a significant relationship between the fundus findings and postmortem time. Over time, the first optic disc becomes pale, then vascular clarity decreases and segmentation increases. The right and left IOP related significantly to postmortem time and decreased gradually as time passed (P < 0.05). Application of linear, exponential, and power equations showed that IOP can be used to estimate postmortem time by a 2 hour interval with a 95% probability.
This study shows that corneal turbidity and IOP have a significant relationship with postmortem time and can be used to estimate a postmortem interval with other postmortem findings. This study provides data that would support the idea that such examination might be useful in estimating postmortem interval.
本研究旨在评估死后眼部变化，并探究这些变化与死亡后经过时间之间的关系。
对在埃斯基谢希尔奥斯曼加齐大学（ESOGU）医院接受治疗期间死亡的100例非刑事案件死者的眼睛进行评估，肉眼观察角膜浑浊和黑斑，并且在从医院取出之前每隔一段时间使用检眼镜、瞳孔计和眼压计进行重复评估。记录死后时间、角膜浑浊情况、黑斑的形成、瞳孔大小、眼内压（IOP）以及眼底检查结果。评估这些结果与死后间隔时间（PMI）之间的关系。
未发现黑斑形成与死后时间之间存在关联（P>0.05）。死后8小时角膜浑浊率显著增加（P<0.01）。未发现左右瞳孔大小与死后时间之间存在关联（P>0.05）。然而，眼底检查结果与死后时间之间存在显著关联。随着时间推移，视盘首先变苍白，然后血管清晰度降低且分段增加。左右眼内压与死后时间显著相关，并且随着时间推移逐渐降低（P<0.05）。线性、指数和幂方程的应用表明，眼内压可用于以2小时间隔、95%的概率估计死后时间。
本研究表明，角膜浑浊和眼内压与死后时间存在显著关系，并且可与其他死后检查结果一起用于估计死后间隔时间。本研究提供的数据支持这样一种观点，即此类检查可能有助于估计死后间隔时间。
