Sex determination of severely burned bodies

Kidney, thyroid gland, liver, striated muscle and cerebral cortex from ten males and six females who died with severe burns were examined with regard to sex determination using Y-chromosome detection. A control group of sixteen persons was compared. Only the kidneys offered a reliable sex determination. Thyroid gland presented high false positive values, the liver one false-negative and striated muscle and cerebral cortex both false negative and positive values. When heating liver and kidney it was demonstrated that temperatures higher than 150 degrees C made the detection difficult.