Diagnostic possibilities of accurate determination of the time since death on the concentration of electrolytes in the vitreous body of the human eye

In this paper the results of modern scientific researches are analyzed and the possibilities of the method of establishing the amount of K+ and Na+ in the vitreous body (VB) of a person for solving problems of practical forensic medicine are studied. The aim of the work. To investigate the possibilities of accurately establishing the time since death (TSD) by determining the amount of electrolytes (K+ and Na+) of human VB. Materials and methods. VB samples from 120 deaths due to cardiovascular pathology (exclusion criteria: eyeball injuries, traumatic brain injury, exogenous intoxications) were studied. The study of the test material was performed on an analyzer of electrolytes and gases ROCHE COBAS B121. The main task was to analyze and establish the dependence of the change in the amount of K+ and Na+ of the VB on the TSD. Statistical processing of the obtained results was performed using Statistica software. Results. In all cases, on average in the first 6 hours, its amount was 7,4 mmol/l, after 6-12 hours – 9,8 mmol/l, after 12-18 hours – 12,1 mmol/l, after 18-24 hours – 16,5 mmol/l, after 24-36 hours – 20,2 mmol/l, after 36-48 hours – 25,3 mmol/l. The amount of Na+ ranged from 120 to 200 mmol/l. Conclusions. It is established that the number of electrolytes of the VB of the human eye naturally changes with increasing postmortem interval, which allows to use this technique to determine the TSD. In particular, the accuracy of setting the DNS by the number of K+ – 4-6 hours between 1 and 18 hours after death. There is an increase in the range of accuracy at a later date of the TSD.