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Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Short-Duration Hypothermia Induction in Rats using Models for Studies examining Clinical Relevance and Mechanisms
Published on: March 3, 2021
An objective approach using three indexes for determining fatal hypothermia due to cold exposure; statistical
Daisuke Yajima1, Masaru Asari2, Katsuhiro Okuda2
1Department of Legal Medicine, Asahikawa Medical University, 2-1-1-1 Midorigaoka-Higashi, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan; Department of Legal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Inohana 1-8-1, Chuo-ku, Chiba City 260-8670, Japan.
Abstract:
Analysis of oxyhemoglobin (O2-Hb) saturation levels in the left and right heart blood is useful in the assessment of exposure to cold surroundings before death. We quantified conventional subjective visual evaluation of O2-Hb saturation levels and developed useful diagnostic criteria for fatal hypothermia: O2-Hb saturation in the left heart blood (L-O2Hb) was ⩾36%, the O2-Hb saturation gap between the left and right heart blood (L-R gap) was ⩾13%, and the O2-Hb saturation ratio of the left to right heart blood (L/R ratio) was ⩾1.8. When we used L-O2Hb of ⩾36% as a basic criterion and applied a further criterion of an L-R gap of ⩾13% or an L/R ratio of ⩾1.8, these criteria registered a sensitivity level of ⩾86% and specificity level of ⩾93% for the diagnosis of fatal hypothermia. This method can be useful for determining fatal hypothermia in connection with conventional autopsy findings, as well as histological and biochemical markers.
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