Smart Jimmy L, Kaliszan Michał
University of Kentucky, 4810 Alben Barkley Drive, Paducah, KY 42001, USA.
Leg Med (Tokyo). 2012 Mar;14(2):55-62. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2011.11.002. Epub 2012 Jan 28.
The purpose of this paper was to examine evidence to seek an explanation of the possible cause(s) or contributing factors to the temperature plateau phenomenon and its influence on time of death (TOD) estimation. The concept of the temperature plateau effect (TPE) is reviewed, and investigation is conducted into its possible prediction under post mortem conditions. The conclusion of this paper is that the appearance of a TPE in postmortem body core temperature decay curves is currently random and cannot be predicted. This unpredictability is based upon the interindividual differences in states (core body temperature, hyperthermia, use of drugs, trauma, etc.) and biomarker concentrations (electrolytes, thyroxine, etc.) at antemortem times, which will ultimately affect the shape of the postmortem temperature decay curve. However, studies indicated that the TPE is diminished or even absent in the head tissues, including eye and ear. The possibility of precise estimation of the TOD in the early post mortem period based on eye temperature measurements is also commented.
本文旨在研究相关证据，以探寻体温平台期现象可能的原因或促成因素及其对死亡时间（TOD）估计的影响。回顾了体温平台期效应（TPE）的概念，并对其在死后条件下的可能预测进行了研究。本文的结论是，死后尸体核心温度衰减曲线中TPE的出现目前是随机的，无法预测。这种不可预测性基于生前状态（核心体温、体温过高、药物使用、创伤等）和生物标志物浓度（电解质、甲状腺素等）的个体差异，这些最终会影响死后温度衰减曲线的形状。然而，研究表明，在包括眼睛和耳朵在内的头部组织中，TPE会减弱甚至不存在。还讨论了基于眼部温度测量在死后早期精确估计TOD的可能性。
