@article{ref1,
title="Elevated cerebrospinal fluid sodium and chloride levels in a saltwater drowning death",
journal="American journal of forensic medicine and pathology",
year="2019",
author="Garland, Jack and Philcox, Winston and Kesha, Kilak and McCarthy, Sinead and Lam, Leo Chi Sing and Palmiere, Cristian and Hensby-Bennett, Sarah and Stables, Simon and Tse, Rexson",
volume="40",
number="3",
pages="258-261",
abstract="To ascribe a cause of death from drowning in a body immersed in water can be difficult because of the absence of specific postmortem findings and unreliable ancillary tests. Postmortem vitreous biochemical analysis is documented to be a useful adjunct ancillary test to aid the diagnosis of saltwater drowning. A major confounding factor in using postmortem vitreous is the effect of electrolyte diffusion and water osmosis during immersion. A recent animal study suggested that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biochemical analysis, which is unaffected by immersion, may be an alternative. However, to date, there are no human data to support this. We report a saltwater drowning death from presumed suicide in which the postmortem CSF sodium and chloride level was elevated compared with nonimmersion deaths. This case gives evidence to support the potential use of postmortem CSF sodium and chloride level as an adjunct to the diagnosis of saltwater drowning.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0195-7910",
doi="10.1097/PAF.0000000000000464",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PAF.0000000000000464"
}