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Pulmonary Immunohistochemical Detection of Surfactant Protein A (SP-A) in Fatal Drowning

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  1. 1 Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, Medical Faculty of Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
  2. 2 Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, Medical Faculty of Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
Forensic Medicine and Anatomy Research·Volume 04, Issue 3·Pages 33–36·Published 14 July 2016·DOI10.4236/fmar.2016.43006
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Abstract

Drowning still remains one of the most difficult diagnoses in forensic pathology because macroscopic and microscopic autopsy findings are unspecific. An ideal diagnostic marker for drowning still needs to be developed, but some authors have recently studied SP-A as a marker of asphyxiation and drowning. The aim of this study is to compare the histopathological features and the SP-A immunohistochemical expression in lung tissue in the case of drowning with those determined by other causes to discriminate between cadaver submersion and drowning.

KeywordsDrowningAutopsyImmunohistochemistrySurfactant Protein APathology
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