From the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Meridian, ID.
Michigan Pathology Specialists, Department of Pathology at Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2023 Jun 1;44(2):97-99. doi: 10.1097/PAF.0000000000000810. Epub 2023 Jan 24.
Volatile chemicals can be relevant in the determination of the cause and manner of death by forensic pathologists. Isopropanol is a secondary alcohol that is occasionally seen on postmortem toxicology testing. A series of 11 forensic autopsy cases was previously reported in which the presence of isopropanol in the vitreous humor was suspected to be due to postmortem contamination from the body preparation process for tissue procurement.In collaboration with a tissue procurement agency, donor vitreous humor was collected from one eye before body preparation for procurement and from the other eye postpreparation. The specimens underwent testing for volatile substances by headspace gas chromatography.Of the 50 cases, 8 (16%) showed statistically significant changes in the prepreparation and postpreparation isopropanol concentrations. Postpreparation isopropanol concentrations ranged from 5 to 104 mg/dL (median, 18 mg/dL). Seven of the 8 cases had undetectable prepreparation isopropanol, whereas the remaining case had a detectable prepreparation isopropanol.In conclusion, surface contamination of the decedent's body with chemicals used in body preparation can lead to the passive absorption into the body, resulting in the presence of isopropanol in postmortem toxicology samples. Forensic pathologists need to be aware of this when interpreting postmortem samples after tissue procurement.
挥发性化学物质在法医病理学家确定死亡原因和方式时可能具有重要意义。异丙醇是一种偶尔在死后毒理学检测中出现的仲醇。之前曾报道过一系列 11 例法医尸检案例，其中怀疑眼玻璃体液中存在异丙醇是由于尸体准备过程中从身体采集组织过程中的死后污染。与一个组织采集机构合作，在准备采集组织之前从一只眼睛收集供体眼玻璃体液，在准备后从另一只眼睛收集。标本通过顶空气相色谱法进行挥发性物质检测。在 50 例病例中，8 例（16%）显示出预准备和准备后异丙醇浓度有统计学意义的变化。准备后异丙醇浓度范围为 5 至 104mg/dL（中位数为 18mg/dL）。8 例中有 7 例预准备异丙醇未检出，而其余 1 例有检出。总之，用于尸体准备的化学物质对死者身体表面的污染会导致被动吸收到体内，导致死后毒理学样本中存在异丙醇。法医病理学家在组织采集后解释死后样本时需要注意这一点。
