Histo- and cytopathological findings in the brain of two fire fatalities

There are only few reports on the neuropathologic findings of fire victims. We investigated brain tissues of a 44-year-old and a 77-year-old man for neuropathologic examination with dehydration, embedding in celloidin, sectioning at 400 μm, and staining with gallocyanin. Microscopically, neurons were less well stained than those from an 87-year-old woman who died of cancer and whose brain had been fixed in formalin for three months. Glial cells were optimally stained. We observed local, laminar and disease-related qualitative and quantitative differences in the amygdaloid complex, temporal allo- and isocortex together with hyperchromatic staining of the medullary layer in the temporal lobe of both fire cases. The vasculature was well preserved and free of blood cells or clotted blood. The heat in fire deaths apparently acts as a kind of fixation, similar to the intention of formalin use, without the confounding effects of agonal and postmortem factors. Heat is most likely a major factor in microwave fixation. Thick gallocyanin-stained sections allow intuitive visual diagnosis of local and laminar neuronal degeneration or gliosis and have the potential to enhance and refine neuropathology-related diagnoses.