Brooks J W
Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
Vet Pathol. 2016 Sep;53(5):929-40. doi: 10.1177/0300985816629720. Epub 2016 Mar 4.
A thorough understanding of the physical and chemical changes that occur in the body after death is critical for accurate interpretation of gross and microscopic pathology at autopsy. Furthermore, knowledge of the postmortem processes and the factors that affect them will aid in the estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI). The estimation of the PMI is important in many human and animal death investigations. Despite many decades of research, accuracy in estimation of the time of death has not significantly improved, and no single method can be reliably used to accurately estimate the time of death. Great care should be taken when formulating such an estimate, for it is dependent on multiple circumstantial and environmental factors, and the accuracy and precision of the estimate decrease as the PMI increases. The majority of the research in the field has been conducted on human bodies, but many relevant conclusions may be drawn regarding the expected postmortem changes in animals and the estimation of the PMI. The veterinary pathologist must use great caution when attempting to extrapolate data and apply formulas designed for use in humans. Methods reviewed include gross changes, microscopic changes, temperature-based methods, postmortem chemistry, molecular methods, microbial assay, ocular changes, radiography, entomology, and others. Although only several of these methods are currently practical for use in the workup of cases, it is expected that future research will result in improved techniques with enhanced accuracy in the estimation of the PMI, which will benefit both human and veterinary forensic investigations.
深入了解死后身体发生的物理和化学变化对于尸检时准确解读大体和微观病理学至关重要。此外，了解死后过程及其影响因素将有助于估计死后间隔时间（PMI）。在许多人类和动物死亡调查中，估计PMI都很重要。尽管经过了数十年的研究，但死亡时间估计的准确性并未显著提高，而且没有一种单一方法可以可靠地用于准确估计死亡时间。在做出这样的估计时应格外谨慎，因为它取决于多种情况和环境因素，并且随着PMI的增加，估计的准确性和精确性会降低。该领域的大多数研究都是针对人体进行的，但关于动物预期的死后变化和PMI的估计可以得出许多相关结论。兽医病理学家在尝试推断数据并应用为人类设计的公式时必须格外小心。所审查的方法包括大体变化、微观变化、基于温度的方法、死后化学、分子方法、微生物检测、眼部变化、放射学、昆虫学等。尽管目前这些方法中只有几种在病例检查中实际可用，但预计未来的研究将产生在PMI估计方面具有更高准确性的改进技术，这将使人类和兽医法医调查都受益。
