Analysis of postmortem serum sodium concentration: A way out for determination of time since death?

Abstract

Despite a large amount of research undertaken, the post mortem interval remains one of the most challenging variables to be  quantified and established. Our project aimed to study the pattern of serum sodium(Na ) concentration change after death and to  correlate it with the post mortem interval. Post mortem blood samples collected from the external jugular vein of a total of 150  subjects with a documented time of death were analyzed in a period of one and half years from January 2017 to June 2018 to assess  the changing pattern of Na concentration to their time since death. Serum Na concentration was found to be decreased almost  linearly with the progression of time within 6-33 hours after death. Coefficient co-relation of mean post mortem Na concentration  and time since death was (-0.96). The average decrease rate of serum Na concentration was found to be 1.14 meq/L per hour. The  present study also showed that a 95% confidence limit of over ± 17.24 hours limits the usefulness of this method in estimating time  since death.