Factors Influencing Postmortem Catecholamine Level and Its Correlations With Agony Time and Cause of Death in Medicolegal Autopsy

Background@#Catecholamines consisting of epinephrine (EP), norepinephrine (NE), and dopamine (DA) are known as a class of chemical neurotransmitters and hormones essential for regulation of physiological processes including stress responses. Many researchers have tried to establish a relationship between postmortem catecholamine level and agony time or underlying cause of death. However, relevant studies have yielded debatable results.This study was performed to determine characteristics of catecholamine distribution in postmortem specimens with various influencing factors and to assess relationships of postmortem catecholamine levels with agony time and cause of death. @*Methods@#A total of 114 autopsy cases were analyzed for catecholamine levels and EP/NE ratios in femoral blood, heart blood, and urine specimens. Postmortem catecholamine levels according to sex, age, medical treatments (cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR] and EP injection), postmortem interval (PMI), agonal period, manner of death, and cause of death were evaluated. @*Results@#Close mutual relationships were noted among femoral and heart blood catecholamine levels. There was no correlation between blood and urine catecholamine levels. Catecholamine levels showed no significant differences according to sex, age, or manner of death. Heart EP and heart EP/NE ratio were significantly higher in the group with CPR. Femoral DA, heart EP, heart NE, heart DA, and urine DA were significantly increased in the group with EP injection. Urine NE and urine DA showed significant differences among PMI groups, with both increased over PMI. In correlation analysis, femoral DA and urine NE displayed weak correlations with PMI. Regarding agony time, femoral and heart DA were significantly increased in long agony group compared to those in the short agony group. With regard to the cause of death, multiple comparison analysis for major categories (natural death, injury, intoxication, asphyxia, drowning, and fire death) revealed a significant increase of femoral NE in asphyxia in comparison with injury. In subgroup analysis for the group without EP injection, femoral NE (P = 0.048), femoral DA (P = 0.039), and heart EP (P = 0.021) showed significant differences between PMI groups. @*Conclusion@#Results of this study have important implications for understanding postmortem catecholamine distribution and their mutual associations, influences of clinical and demographic factors, and relationships with agony time and cause of death in Korean population. Although comprehensive demonstration of catecholamine level as stress index was not possible in the present study, the assessment of postmortem catecholamine levels could be used as a supportive tool in classification of agonal status and differential diagnosis of the cause of death in particular cases. Further investigation is needed on this issue.

Proposal of the Autopsy Guideline for Infectious Diseases: Preparation for the Post-COVID-19 Era / 대한법의학회지

With the rapidly spreading coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic over the past few months, the world is facing an unprecedented crisis. Innumerable lives have been lost to this novel infectious disease, the nature of which supersedes conventional medical understanding. People around the world are sacrificing their daily lives and enduring the crisis regardless of national boundaries and cultural backgrounds. The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a global health crisis, several aspects of life in the post-COVID-19 era are also being contemplated. Experts in unison are warning that the upcoming changes in all areas of life could potentially be far more drastic than ever experienced in the entire human civilization. The medical community is no exception, and therefore, personnel involved in forensic medicine also need to be adequately prepared for the future. Forensic medicine is a branch of medicine dedicated to one of the most important stages of the human lifecycle and has always been at the forefront in times of unprecedented social change. We present new autopsy guidelines in forensic medicine, formulated based on the various infectious diseases that we presently live with and may encounter in the future. In formulation of these guidelines several considerations have been taken into account, namely, the role forensic pathologists should play in the post-COVID-19 era and the necessary preparations as well as the support needed from society to fulfill that role. The present COVID-19 outbreak should be a starting point for formulating improvements in current practices in forensic science, including autopsy biosafety practices and the medicolegal death investigation system.

Proposal of the Autopsy Guideline for Infectious Diseases: Preparation for the Post-COVID-19 Era (abridged translation)

With the rapidly spreading coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic over the past few months, the world is facing an unprecedented crisis. Innumerable lives have been lost to this novel infectious disease, the nature of which supersedes conventional medical understanding. The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a global health crisis, several aspects of life in the post-COVID-19 era are also being contemplated. Experts in unison are warning that the upcoming changes in all areas of life could potentially be far more drastic than ever experienced in the entire human civilization. The medical community is no exception, and therefore, personnel involved in forensic medicine also need to be adequately prepared for the future. Forensic medicine is a branch of medicine dedicated to one of the most important stages of the human lifecycle and has always been at the forefront in times of unprecedented social change. The autopsy, one of the most important tools of forensic medicine, is also useful to infectious diseases because it identifies the causal relationship between death and infection, reveals medical and epidemiological knowledge, and provides objective evidence for legal disputes. We present new autopsy guidelines in forensic medicine, formulated based on the various infectious diseases that we presently live with and may encounter in the future. In formulation of these guidelines several considerations have been taken into account, namely, the role forensic pathologists should play in the post-COVID-19 era and the necessary preparations as well as the support needed from society to fulfill that role. The present COVID-19 outbreak should be a starting point for formulating improvements in current practices in forensic science, including autopsy biosafety practices and the medicolegal death investigation system.

Pulmonary Hemorrhage with Progressive Massive Fibrosis in a Silicosis Patient: An Autopsy Case / 대한법의학회지

Progressive massive fibrosis (PMF) involves extensive fibrosis of the lung and is usually bilateral in nature. This lesion occurs in patients showing silicosis and other pneumoconioses, including asbestosis, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or mixed dust fibrosis. PMF tends to exacerbate fairly rapidly and may continue to grow even if the dust hazard is removed. It is frequently associated with functional impairment, including reduction in lung compliance, lung volumes, diffusing capacity, and presence of hypoxemia. However, pulmonary hemorrhage is rarely observed along with PMF. We present an autopsy case of a silicosis patient who died as a result of PMF complicated with massive hemoptysis.

Significance of Foxp3 Positive Regulatory T Cell and Tumor Infiltrating T Lymphocyte in Triple Negative Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is defined as a lack of the expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 in breast cancer. Many TNBCs show a profound infiltration of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). It is still uncertain whether these TILs are protumoral or antitumoral. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a role in inducing immune tolerance to antigens, and they may be selectively recruited by cancer cells. This study was conducted to evaluate the significance of TILs with an emphasis on forkhead box p3 (Foxp3), which is a marker for CD25+CD4+ Treg in TNBC. METHODS: We investigated the Foxp3, CD8 and CD4 expressions in 100 cases of TNBC by immunohistochemistry and using a tissue microarray. The Foxp3 expression was divided as the high and low infiltration groups (cut-off value=20). RESULTS: The high infiltration group was correlated with higher histologic and nuclear grades. However, Foxp3+ Tregs were decreased in the T3 and T4 TNBCs as compared to that of the T1 and T2 TNBCs. No significant differences were found for the nodal status, lymphovascular invasion, stage, recurrence and overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: High Foxp3+ Treg infiltration in TNBC is correlated with the nuclear and histologic grades, but there was no relation to recurrence and overall survival.

Stercoral Colitis Leading to Fatal Peritonitis and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome / 대한법의학회지

The stercoral colitis is an inflammatory process involving the colonic wall related to fecal impaction. This rare condition usually has a poor prognosis. We experienced a death case where an 84 years old woman died of stercoral colitis complications after total knee arthroplasty surgery. The fatal complications were peritonitis with systemic inflammatory response syndrome, not accompanying bowel perforations. We would like to show the autopsy case of stercoral colitis and suggest the importance of early suspicion and treatment.

Sudden Death Related to Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery Fistula Draining to the Left Ventricle: A Case Report with Review of the Literature / 대한법의학회지

Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare congenital malformation, comprising less than 1% of all congenital heart disease. Most fistulas drain into the right-sided heart chambers or pulmonary artery, and termination in left heart chambers is an uncommon finding. Clinical presentation mainly depends on the severity of the left-to-right shunt, and adult patients usually do not develop any symptom. There are few case reports relating CAF manifested as an exceptional form of sudden unexpected death. We experienced a case of a 62-year-old male with a single CAF arising from left main coronary artery which drains into the left ventricle, and reported with review of the related articles.

A Suicide with Multiple Deep Throat Cuts / 대한법의학회지

A 46-year-old man was found dead at the foot of a mountain, with a bloody knife aside of his neck. A horizontal throat cut wound with multiple vertebral incisions was observed, with damages of neck vessels and pharynx. There were also three stab wounds in the abdomen and a horizontal cut in the anterior side of left proximal arm. He had suffered from depression. Scene circumstances and autopsy findings pointed toward a suicidal etiology.

Microvessel and Lymphatic Vessel Density and VEGFR-3 Expression of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma with Comparative Analysis of Clinicopathological Characteristics

BACKGROUND: This study was done to see if there were correlations between anatomic and molecular parameters such as microvessel density (MVD), lymphatic vessel density (LVD), and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-3 expression and various clinical parameters for papillary thyroid carcinomas of size > 1.0 cm (PTCs) and size 45 years old (more apparent in the PTC group) and LVD had suggestive correlations with multicentricity and extrathyroidal extension depending on analytic conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Since LVD showed variable correlations with clinical variables for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid depending on analytic conditions, the individually planned treatments based on overall clinicopathological factors are advised.

Histopathological Evaluation of Pediatric Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction: Quantitative Morphometric Analysis of Pathological Changes in the Enteric Nervous System

BACKGROUND: This study was done to obtain comprehensive data on changes in the structural components of the enteric nervous system in pediatric patients with intestinal pseudo-obstruction (IPO). We evaluated routinely processed, in formalin-fixed tissues by quantitative morphometric analysis. In addition, we used formalin-fixed tissue to explore the possibility of using previously proposed diagnostic criteria to evaluate frozen serial sections for intestinal neuronal dysplasia (IND) type B and hypoganglionosis. METHODS: We analyzed data for 19 IPO cases. Morphometric analysis for quantification of ganglia and ganglion cells (GCs) was done for the myentric and the submucous plexus. In addition, we determined the presence of immature GCs and the distribution of nerve fibers and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). RESULTS: Nine patients showed combined hypoganglionosis, IND, and decreased ICC; others showed various combinations of these. Several morphometric factors were significantly different between patient groups as well as being different than the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our pediatric IPO cases showed extensive overlapping of pathological findings. And the findings suggest the utility of using previously proposed morphometrically measured factors in multiple frozen sections as diagnostic criteria for IND type B and hypoganglionosis in formalin-fixed tissue.