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Updated: May 7, 2025
Author Spotlight: Diatom Testing for Forensic Drowning Examination
Published on: November 10, 2023
Biological markers as an additional method of determining drowning
Emina Dervišević1, Nina Čamdžić2, Ermin Mašić3
1Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Background:
There is no specified diagnostic procedure that can help in determining the cause of death and the diagnosis of drowning because the pathohistological signs are almost identical and non-specified.
Aim:
Our study aims to recognize and prove diatom appearance in organs from a forensic aspect in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to examine which is the more specific method in the diagnosis of drowning, the diatom test or the pathohistological finding.
Methods:
Rats of the recommended body weight were divided into four groups: G1 (n = 8; mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-suffocation, submerged 1 hour after death); G2 (n = 8: mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-suffocation, immersed 72 hours after death); G3 (n = 8: mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-drowning, autopsy immediately after death), and G4 (n = 8: mechanism of death-asphyxia; cause of death-drowning, post mortem 24 hours after death).
Results:
During the diatom analysis, four species of diatoms, Diatoma vulgaris, Melosira varians, Epithemia adnata, and Cymbella sp, were successfully recovered from the stomach. Microscopic analysis did not detect diatoms in the kidneys and brains of rats, while the pathohistological changes were relatively uniform.
Conclusion:
Our results propose that the diatom test is a sustainable tool for supporting the diagnosis of drowning in the forensic pathology analysis of the cause of death. This experimental study is a starting point toward the optimization of tests and sampling in cases of unexplained etiology.
