Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Bonn, Stiftsplatz 12, 53111, Bonn, Germany.
Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2020 Dec;16(4):728-731. doi: 10.1007/s12024-020-00286-5. Epub 2020 Aug 14.
A 49-year-old woman was found dead in her apartment after a fire began in her building. During the forensic autopsy, 3rd to 4th degree burns were found on the woman's body, but there were no indications that she was alive when the fire started. Interestingly, hemorrhagic gastric mucosa erosions, as well as bloody contents in the esophagus, stomach, and intestines, were observed. However, the source of the bleeding could not be found. The cause of death was therefore determined to be hypothermia with postmortem fire exposure. The cause of the hypothermia could possibly have been high internal blood loss. The organs showed early signs of putrefaction. It was theorized that the woman had not died immediately before the fire began, but rather a few days before. Examination of heat shock proteins (HSPs) to evaluate premortem thermal influences did not reveal HSP 27, 60, or 70 expression in renal tissue, possibly because of the putrefaction. However, Sudan staining of this tissue revealed a fatty degeneration of renal tubular cells. Opposing temperature influences, as in this case, are rather rare and require thorough investigations.
一名 49 岁的妇女在其所在建筑发生火灾后被发现死在其公寓中。在法医解剖期间，该妇女的尸体上发现了 3 至 4 度烧伤，但没有迹象表明火灾发生时她还活着。有趣的是，观察到胃黏膜出血性糜烂，以及食管、胃和肠道中的血性内容物。然而，出血的来源无法找到。因此，死因被确定为低温暴露于火灾后死亡。低温的原因可能是大量内部失血。器官显示出早期腐烂的迹象。据推测，该妇女并非在火灾发生前立即死亡，而是在几天前死亡。检查热休克蛋白（HSPs）以评估生前的热影响，但并未在肾组织中发现 HSP27、60 或 70 的表达，这可能是由于腐烂。然而，苏丹染色显示肾小管细胞发生脂肪变性。像这种情况一样，相反的温度影响相当罕见，需要进行彻底的调查。
