Korean J Leg Med.  2019 Aug;43(3):91-96. 10.7580/kjlm.2019.43.3.91.

Evaluation of the Usefulness of Cardiac Enzyme Analysis for the Diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Postmortem Inspection

• Park JP
• Lee TS
• Choi M
• Yang KM
• Park J
• Won Y
• Lee J
• Kim DH
• Choi SG
• Lee K
• Kim JH
• Kim M
• Yu M

• KMID: 2456271
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2019.43.3.91

Abstract

Acute myocardial infarction is one of the most common causes of unexpected deaths, but there are limitations to its diagnosis in postmortem inspection. In this study, we aimed to investigate the usefulness of cardiac marker analysis for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in postmortem inspection. This study was conducted on 30 postmortem inspection cases conducted by the National Forensic Service from 2016 to 2018. Tests for three myocardial enzymes (myoglobin, creatinine kinase-MB, and cardiac troponin I) were performed in each case, and the relationships between enzyme levels, cause of death, and factors affecting the postmortem tests were analyzed. Cardiac enzyme concentrations were not significantly different between the heart disease group and other disease groups, and the false-positive rate was increased due to postmortem changes. Therefore, we can conclude that it is not appropriate to use cardiac enzyme analysis for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in postmortem inspection.

Keyword

Myocardial infarction; Diagnosis; Postmortem changes; Troponin I

MeSH Terms

Cause of Death
Creatinine
Diagnosis*
Heart Diseases
Myocardial Infarction*
Postmortem Changes
Troponin
Troponin I
Creatinine
Troponin
Troponin I

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