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Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in pericardial fluid for postmortem diagnosis of sepsis

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and concentrations of procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in pericardial fluid and compare these levels to those found in the postmortem serum obtained from the femoral blood. Two groups were formed, a sepsis-related fatalities group and a control group. Postmortem native CT scans, autopsies, histology, neuropathology and toxicology as well as other postmortem biochemistry investigations were performed in all cases. Pericardial fluid procalcitonin levels were significantly different between the cases of sepsis-related fatalities and those of the control group. Postmortem serum procalcitonin levels below the detection limit were also reflected in undetectable pericardial fluid levels. Similarly, a large increase in postmortem serum procalcitonin levels was reflected in a large increase of procalcitonin pericardial fluid levels. Based on these findings, pericardial fluid could be an alternative to postmortem serum for the determination of procalcitonin levels in cases where postmortem serum is not available and measurements of procalcitonin are required to circumstantiate the pathogenesis of death.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose constructive and useful comments improved the quality of this article.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Centre of Legal Medicine, Lausanne-Geneva, Rue du Bugnon 21, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Bettina Schrag, Patrice Mangin & Cristian Palmiere

  2. University Centre of Legal Medicine, Lausanne-Geneva, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211, Genève 4, Switzerland

    Bettina Schrag, Patrice Mangin & Cristian Palmiere

  3. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Rue du Bugnon 17, 1004, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Katia Iglesias

Authors
  1. Bettina Schrag
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  2. Katia Iglesias
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  3. Patrice Mangin
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  4. Cristian Palmiere
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristian Palmiere.

Additional information

Bettina Schrag and Cristian Palmiere equally contributed as first authors of this work.

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Schrag, B., Iglesias, K., Mangin, P. et al. Procalcitonin and C-reactive protein in pericardial fluid for postmortem diagnosis of sepsis. Int J Legal Med 126, 567–572 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-012-0692-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-012-0692-8

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