Biochemical changes in cerebrospinal fluid after death

Biochemical changes in various body fluids after death have been investigated before in various countries. They were found to be useful in a variety of situations. They may aid in finding the cause of death when autopsy is negative or not available and in estimation of the time since death. To asses the biochemical changes in cerebrospinal fluid after death as well as to asses these changes in relation to different postmortem intervals in order to estimate the time since death. A total of forty autopsy cases were selected randomly for the study at the medicolegal institute in Baghdad. Time of death was obtained from police reports, close relatives and case sheets for those admitted to hospitals. CSF was aspirated from the brain and centrifugation was done immediately. The supernatant was collected; determinations of glucose, protein, sodium, potassium and urea were done at Kadhmiya Teaching Hospital. There was an increase in potassium level in CSF with increasing postmortem interval and a significant correlation was found between them [p<0.001]. A slight to moderate reduction in sodium level in CSF and no correlation was found with postmortem interval. Glucose was decreasing with increasing postmortem interval and a significant correlation was found between the two parameters [p < 0.001]. Proteins levels were higher than their normal ante mortem value in CSF and no correlation was found with postmortem interval. Urea was a relatively stable parameter. The study revealed a significant correlation between potassium and glucose concentrations in CSF with postmortem interval aiding in estimation of time since death with other means, while there were no correlation between sodium, urea and protein with postmortem interval. Urea was a stable biochemical marker reflecting its ante mortem level

Suicidal chloroquine poisoning

Drug poisoning is rare in our country and chloroquine poisoning is further rarer. Yet the authors report a unique case of chloroquine poisoning committed by a 17 year old girl whose act proved to be suicidal in manner. Classical methods for tissue extraction and analysis using TLC and UV were employed