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Bacterial Translocation and Sample Contamination in Postmortem Microbiological Analyses
Author(s) -
Palmiere Cristian,
Egger Coraline,
Prod'Hom Guy,
Greub Gilbert
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12991
Subject(s) - bacteriology , autopsy , forensic science , sampling (signal processing) , contamination , pathology , forensic pathology , medicine , postmortem changes , biology , veterinary medicine , ecology , bacteria , genetics , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision
The diagnostic value of postmortem bacteriology has been discussed controversially for decades. In the study herein, contamination during sampling procedures and postmortem translocation were investigated to interpret postmortem microbiology results. One hundred medicolegal autopsy cases in total were included. Radiology, histology, bacteriology, and biochemistry were performed in all cases. Based on all investigation findings, 4 groups of cases were identified: death unrelated to infection, true infections, false positive (contamination during sampling procedures, postmortem translocation and mixed situations), and undetermined. The results of this study indicate that postmortem bacteriology provides useful data supporting infection‐related deaths, especially when potentially significant observations are accompanied by consistent autopsy, histology, and biochemistry. Result interpretation requires careful evaluation of number and type of isolated microorganisms.