Post-mortem investigation of calcium content in liver, heart, and skeletal muscle in accidental hypothermia cases

Abstract

The identification of hypothermia as cause of the death was always quite problematic in the field of forensic medicine. The aim of the present study was to verify the determination of calcium content in post-mortem liver, heart, and skeletal muscle samples as the biochemical marker defining hypothermia as the cause of death. The study involved 43 autopsy cases in which the circumstances of death indicated the effects of overcooling. The control group consisted of material collected from the corpses of 30 persons who were not exposed to low temperatures but died due to technical injuries (n=5), asphyxia (n=6), intoxication with ethanol and other substances (n=8), and acute myocardial infarction/ischemia (n=11). The concentration of calcium in autopsy samples was determined applying flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Our study showed no significant differences of calcium content in tissues of persons who died due to hypothermia, over those who died in normothermic conditions.