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Related Experiment Videos

Postmortem bacteriology: a re-evaluation.

J A Morris1, L M Harrison, S M Partridge

  • 1Department of Pathology, Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Lancaster, LA1 4RP, UK. Jim.A.Morris@rli.mbht.nhs.uk

Journal of Clinical Pathology
|January 6, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Postmortem bacteriology is valuable for identifying infection, even with contamination risks. A pure pathogen growth in blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can indicate a cause of death across all age groups.

Area of Science:

  • Forensic Pathology
  • Microbiology
  • Clinical Pathology

Background:

  • Postmortem bacteriology is crucial in necropsy practice.
  • Assessing bacterial invasion of blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is key.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the utility of postmortem bacteriology.
  • To emphasize bacterial invasion in blood and CSF.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of published articles on postmortem bacteriology.
  • Analysis of over 5000 necropsies (adults, perinatal, infancy).
  • Inclusion of data on blood cultures, CSF, and spleen cultures.

Main Results:

  • Two-thirds of blood cultures were negative; single or mixed growth in the remainder.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Postmortem interval had minimal impact on bacterial isolation rates.
  • Pure pathogen growth in blood/CSF had >50% likelihood of indicating genuine infection.

    • Conclusions:

    • Contamination is a significant postmortem artifact, reducible by careful technique.
    • Agonal spread and postmortem translocation are less common than presumed.
    • Pure pathogen growth in blood or CSF warrants consideration as a contributing factor to death.