The Diagnostic Value of Quantitative Assessment of Diatom Test for Drowning: An Analysis of 128 Water‐related Death Cases using Microwave Digestion‐Vacuum Filtration‐Automated Scanning Electron Microscopy |
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| Authors: | Jian Zhao BD Chao Liu MD PhD Adham Sameer A Bardeesi MD Yeda Wu MD Yanbing Ma MD Sunlin Hu PhD He Shi BD Jianding Cheng MD PhD |
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| Institution: | 1. Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat‐Sen University, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, 510080, China;2. Guangzhou Forensic Science Institute & Key laboratory of Forensic Pathology, Ministry of Public Security, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, China |
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| Abstract: | The value of diatom test for the diagnosis of drowning remains controversial. The conventional forensic diatom test with low sensitivity is not a useful tool to provide accurate information about diatom in the tissues and organs. To improve the sensitivity of the diatom test, we developed a novel method called the Microwave Digestion‐Vacuum Filtration‐Automated Scanning Electron Microscopy (MD‐VF‐Auto SEM) method which resulted in a high recovery of diatoms. In this article, we analyzed 128 water‐related death cases. Our results showed that the MD‐VF‐Auto SEM method could achieve a much higher positive rate (0.97) in drowning cases. Large amounts of diatoms are retained, even concentrated, in the lung tissues during the intense breathing movement in drowning process. This might be useful for the diagnosis of drowning. Our research indicates that the MD‐VF‐Auto SEM method would be a valuable methodology in the study of diatom test for the forensic community. |
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| Keywords: | forensic science forensic pathology drowning diatom test quantitative analysis positive rate |
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