心肌肌钙蛋白T在家兔缺血心肌中的表达及其死后稳定性

目的 探寻心肌肌钙蛋白T（cTnT）在家免缺血心肌中的表达规律及其死后稳定性．并对其在法医学实践中诊断早期心肌缺血的应用价值进行评价。方法用冠状动脉结扎法建立家兔急性心肌缺血模型．应用免疫组织化学法、图像分析和统计学处理系统,检测死后cTnT表达情况,并对实验组和对照组cTnT的表达进行比较。结果缺血区心肌组织可见明显不规则灶状、片状cTnT缺失区,间质呈阴性表达。在4℃放置．随放置时间延长,正常和缺血心肌组织cTnT阳性表达均有减弱趋势,至14d时均完全缺失。但仅在4℃放置1～7d内,缺血心肌和正常心肌标本之间cTnT阳性反应具有显著性差异。结论cTnT的免疫组化表达用于认定死后4℃放置的尸体是否有死前心肌缺血时．宜在7d以内进行。     

Pericardial Cyst: Cause of Sudden Cardiac Death?

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of sudden death in the world. The etiology of sudden cardiac death involves a wide range of diseases, but seldom pericardial cysts. A pericardial cyst is an uncommon cyst usually located in the middle mediastinum and rarely in the posterior part. They are usually harmless and asymptomatic. Here, we present a case of a 63‐year‐old woman who presented with dyspnea and hoarseness, but died suddenly after a CT scan was attempted. The detailed forensic pathologic and histologic examination revealed a pericardial cyst located in the posterior mediastinum. Toxicology and biochemistry tests, including tryptase, found no competing cause of death.     

Entomological and Cardiologic Evidence of Time Since Death in Short Postmortem Intervals

Estimating the time since death of the deceased is a main goal in forensic investigations, but this can be challenging due to contradictory results derived from different investigations at the scene of death. We present a case of a 78‐year‐old woman, found dead in a small forest with broad‐leaved trees, whose husband had a history of domestic violence. Routinely performed investigations, such as postmortem rectal temperature and lividity, yielded inconsistent time since death results between only a few and longer than 20 h. This difficulty was most likely caused by high ambient temperatures of up to 38.0°C, which negatively influenced the informative value of the applied nomogram method. Additionally, performed entomological investigation of fly maggots (Lucilia illustris) recovered from the corpse and the assessment of heart pacemaker data revealed consistent and incontrovertible results. The presented case highlights the benefits of information provided by entomological investigations and data evaluation of cardiac implantable electronic devices and the combined use of the two techniques.     

Forensic Considerations in Cases of Myotonic Dystrophy at Autopsy

Myotonic dystrophy (DM) is a chronic, slowly progressive, autosomal‐dominant disorder with delayed muscle relaxation after contraction, distal skeletal muscle weakness, and atrophy. It has a reduced life expectancy due predominantly to respiratory failure or sudden cardiac death. The mortality rate is approximately 7.3 times greater than the general population with a mean age at death of 53 years. Degeneration of the cardiac conduction system causes atrioventricular block, arrhythmias, and ventricular failure. A case of sudden death in a 44‐year‐old woman with DM type 1 is reported to demonstrate an alternative lethal mechanism. At autopsy, there was extensive infiltration of skeletal muscles with adipose tissue. The heart was structurally normal. A deep venous thrombosis of the right calf was identified with a large saddle pulmonary thromboembolus and bilateral peripheral thromboemboli. DM1‐related thrombosis had most likely occurred because of the decedent's impaired mobility, possible hypercoagulable state, and serum changes from muscle necrosis.     

An Unexpected Finding in SUDEP Involving a Child: Focal Myocardial Infarct Adjacent to Bundle of His

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a nontraumatic, nondrowning death of an individual with epilepsy in which an autopsy with appropriate ancillary studies does not identify a cause of death. The mechanism of death in SUDEP is unknown, but is thought to involve cardiac and/or respiratory mechanisms. Research in SUDEP is hindered by a lack of consensus regarding required components of a death investigation before a cause of death may be certified as SUDEP. Histopathologic examination of the cardiac conduction system is not routinely performed in SUDEP death investigations. We present a case of SUDEP where histopathologic examination of the cardiac conduction system revealed a focal myocardial infarct of the summit of the ventricular septum abutting the bundle of His, which potentially provides insight into the mechanism of SUDEP for this particular case, and suggests that routine examination of the cardiac conduction system in SUDEP may be beneficial.     

急性心功能障碍大鼠心肌中BNP的表达

目的研究大鼠急性心功能障碍时心肌组织中脑钠肽(brain natriuretic peptide,BNP)的表达变化,探讨BNP在急性心功能障碍的法医学诊断中的应用价值。方法建立大鼠急性心功能障碍模型,运用免疫组织化学、Western印迹法、实时RT-PCR等技术检测心功能障碍过程中心肌组织BNP蛋白和BNP mRNA的表达变化。结果随心功能障碍持续时间增加,免疫阳性着色不断增强。1～2h主要表现为弱阳性,4～6h心肌细胞主要表现为阳性,10～12h大鼠心肌细胞表现为强阳性。Western印迹法和实时RT-PCR结果均显示,随心功能障碍持续时间增加,BNP明显升高,而且心功能障碍1h即能观察到BNP mRNA显著升高。结论检测心肌组织中BNP蛋白及BNP mRNA的表达能为法医病理学工作者客观评价心功能状态提供一种新的途径。     

Variation in Methods of Cardiac Dissection—A Potential Confounder in Measuring Cardiac Weight at Autopsy

To evaluate whether the weight of the heart measured at autopsy may be affected by the type of dissection, a prospective study was undertaken of the weights of sequential cases of nonpediatric hearts. Four hundred fifty‐eight hearts were examined (age range 17–96 years; mean 55.9 years; M:F = 3:1). The hearts were each weighed fresh, once the apex had been sliced, the auricles of the atria opened and blood drained, and again once the cardiac chambers had been opened completely. The difference in the partially and fully opened heart weights (range 146–1028 g; mean 434.8 g; range 134–1011 g; mean 420.8 g, respectively) (p < 0.05) ranged from 0 to 100 g (mean 14 g). In the most extreme example, the weight of the partially opened heart was 30.3% higher than that of the fully opened specimen. Failure to fully open the heart prior to weighing may result in significant error.     

应用 CD68免疫组织化学方法诊断不典型心肌炎

目的为划清心肌炎与心肌对机体某种病理状态的反应界线 . 方法应用 CD68免疫组织化学染色方法 , 对 26例 (6例典型急性心肌炎 ,20例明确或可疑心肌炎 )心源性猝死者的心肌作染色、光镜检查 . 取 10例正常心肌对比研究 . 结果心肌炎者病变部出现大量 CD68免疫组织化学染色阳性的单核细胞 . ( >20个 /× 40视野 ), 形态多样、堆集 ( >15个 ). 结论 CD68免疫组织化学染色可用作诊断不典型心肌炎的指标之一 .     

急性心肌缺血早期细胞膜糖蛋白表达的研究

目的 探测急性心肌缺血早期细胞膜糖蛋白 (凝集素受体 )表达特点。方法 应用免疫组化法（ S－ P法）对 32只 SD大鼠急性心肌缺血早期不同时间心肌细胞膜糖蛋白用 6种凝集素进行探测。结果 心肌缺血 15min时,心肌局部可出现花生凝集素（ PNA）染色阳性,并且随着缺血时间的延长其阳性表达面积明显增加。缺血 2h其表达水平达到高峰 ,呈弥漫性染色阳性,明显高于对照组, 2h后,心肌缺血区域 PNA受体的表达开始出现下降趋势。其它凝集素染色较为分散,尚待进一步研究。结论 心肌缺血,心肌细胞膜 呈现 D－半乳糖链改变。     

Anomalous Anterior Papillary Muscle as an Autopsy Finding in Two Cases

Anomaly in the anterior papillary muscle (APM) is known to cause left ventricle outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction, and this rare congenital condition could be a cause of sudden cardiac death. This anomaly and its hemodynamic effects is similar to valvular heart disease. In our two described cases, in which cause of death was, respectively, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and suicide by hanging, the cephalad portion of the left APM was inserted directly into the ventricular surface of the anterior mitral leaflet and chordae tendineae were absent in the area of the direct anomalous muscle insertion; the aberrant papillary muscle was very large and showed an exaggerated anterior displacement within the left ventricular cavity. The described anomaly is a cause of LVOT obstruction. This condition is considered to be rare, although incidence estimates do not exist. In the absence of other possible causes, this finding may indicate arrhythmia as being the immediate cause of death.