University Centre of Legal Medicine, Lausanne-Geneva, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Int J Legal Med. 2012 Jul;126(4):567-72. doi: 10.1007/s00414-012-0692-8. Epub 2012 Mar 29.
The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and concentrations of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in pericardial fluid and compare these levels to those found in the postmortem serum obtained from the femoral blood. Two groups were formed, a sepsis-related fatalities group and a control group. Postmortem native CT scans, autopsies, histology, neuropathology and toxicology as well as other postmortem biochemistry investigations were performed in all cases. Pericardial fluid procalcitonin levels were significantly different between the cases of sepsis-related fatalities and those of the control group. Postmortem serum procalcitonin levels below the detection limit were also reflected in undetectable pericardial fluid levels. Similarly, a large increase in postmortem serum procalcitonin levels was reflected in a large increase of procalcitonin pericardial fluid levels. Based on these findings, pericardial fluid could be an alternative to postmortem serum for the determination of procalcitonin levels in cases where postmortem serum is not available and measurements of procalcitonin are required to circumstantiate the pathogenesis of death.
本研究旨在探讨降钙素原和 C 反应蛋白在心包液中的存在及其浓度，并将这些水平与从股动脉获得的死后血清中的水平进行比较。将两组形成，一组是与脓毒症相关的死亡组，另一组是对照组。所有病例均进行了死后 CT 扫描、尸检、组织学、神经病理学和毒理学检查以及其他死后生化检查。心包液降钙素原水平在与脓毒症相关的死亡病例和对照组病例之间存在显著差异。死后血清降钙素原水平低于检测限也反映在无法检测到心包液水平。同样，死后血清降钙素原水平的大幅升高反映在降钙素原心包液水平的大幅升高。基于这些发现，在心包液中可以替代死后血清来确定死后血清中降钙素原水平，在无法获得死后血清并且需要测量降钙素原来推断死因的情况下。
