| Title: | Detection of carbon monoxide poisoning that occurred before a house fire in three cases |
| Author(s): | Oshima T; Yonemitsu K; Sasao A; Ohtani M; Mimasaka S; |
| Address: | "Department of Forensic Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Electronic address: tooshima@med.akita-u.ac.jp. Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. Electronic address: yonemie@kumamoto-u.ac.jp. Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. Electronic address: ako@kumamoto-u.ac.jp. Department of Forensic Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Electronic address: mohtani@doc.med.akita-u.ac.jp. Department of Forensic Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Hondo 1-1-1, Akita 010-8543, Japan. Electronic address: mimasaka@med.akita-u.ac.jp" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.legalmed.2015.05.003 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1873-4162 (Electronic) 1344-6223 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "In our institutes, we perform a quantitative evaluation of volatile hydrocarbons in post-mortem blood in all fatal fire-related cases using headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry. We previously reported that benzene concentrations in the blood were positively correlated with carbon monoxide-hemoglobin (CO-Hb) concentrations in fire-related deaths. Here, we present 3 cases in which benzene concentrations in the blood were not correlated with CO-Hb concentrations. A high CO-Hb concentration without a hydrocarbon component, such as benzene, indicates that the deceased inhaled carbon monoxide that was not related to the smoke from the fire. Comparing volatile hydrocarbons with CO-Hb concentrations can provide more information about the circumstances surrounding fire-related deaths. We are currently convinced that this is the best method to detect if carbon monoxide poisoning occurred before a house fire started" |
| Keywords: | Adult Aged Benzene/analysis Carbon Monoxide/blood Carbon Monoxide Poisoning/*diagnosis Female *Fires Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Hemoglobins/analysis Humans Male Middle Aged Smoke Inhalation Injury/blood Volatile Organic Compounds/blood Carbon mo; |
| Notes: | "MedlineOshima, Toru Yonemitsu, Kosei Sasao, Ako Ohtani, Maki Mimasaka, Sohtaro eng Ireland 2015/05/26 Leg Med (Tokyo). 2015 Sep; 17(5):371-5. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2015.05.003. Epub 2015 May 18" |
