TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1992//
TI  - Fatal self-induced hyperinsulinaemia: a delayed post-mortem analytical detection
JO  - Medicine, science, and the law
A1  - Patel, F.
SP  - 151
EP  - 159
VL  - 32
IS  - 2
N2  - The inconspicuous number of cases of self-induced hyperinsulinaemia reported in the literature may suggest that many are obscure enough to escape their detection. A case of fatal suicidal hyperinsulinaemia in a non-diabetic is reported here, and in whom only a retrospective biochemical analysis provided an explanatory cause of death. A quantitative radioimmuno assay (RIA) estimation of the refrigerated postmortem blood sample stored at 4 degrees C for three weeks gave a positive insulin yield. It reiterates the need, in forensic cases, for a very low threshold of suspicion and a good back-up for the appropriate body fluid analysis or tissue microexamination, especially when full details of the circumstances surrounding the death are not available at the autopsy. A brief résumé on insulin is presented as a background to the current forensic interest in the apparent increase in sudden deaths in young diabetics amidst the controversy about the bio-designed 'human' insulin and subjective unawareness of severe hypoglycaemia.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0025-8024
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -