ABSTRACT
@#BACKGROUND. In the present situation, other than establishing the cause of death, one other major problem that the world is still facing in the forensic medical science is determining the time of death. To meet this requirement, scientists have been studying the organ system at cellular level based on medical and other sciences. Determining the time of death solves the problem which judicial organization has to face and it is significant to demonstrate citizen’s religion and traditional rituals. Now there are two methods, early and late reflection in the corpse. When we determine the time of death, we have purposed changes of epithelial cell structures and movements in the smear from the cornea after death. The studies related with those have not yet being undertaken in our country. Therefore, we want to investigate what changes are related with corneal cytology depend on the time of death. PURPOSE: To study the changes of epithelial cell structure and movement in the smear from the cornea after death. CONCLUSION: We observed the marked changes in the cell structure, including increased nucleus/cytoplasmic ratio and also a nuclear karyolysis of the epithelial cells of the cornea at 1-2 hours, 3-4 hours, 5-7 hours, 8-11 hours, 12-17 hours, 1 day and 2 days after the death, respectively. From the research results, by observing the number of epithelial cell of the cornea, we can see that when the time of death is prolonged, the number of epithelial cell increases. When we compared the time of death with the determined number of epithelial cells, there are statistically significant (ρ=0.981, p<0.001).