Current state and prospects of forensic-medical diagnosis of drowning: A review of the literature

Abstract

The article describes the current possibilities of forensic medicine in the diagnosis of death by drowning, as well as reflects the different views of the authors and the evolution of approaches to this issue. Despite the constant interest of scientists in the topic of drowning and extensive research on this issue, there are still many white spots. Researchers are trying to identify more specific changes characteristic of drowning and possible methods to detect them. The main evidence based method of diagnosing drowning at present is the detection of diatomic plankton in the tissues of isolated kidneys by light optical microscopy. However, microscopic examination and identification of diatomic plankton require a lot of time and accurate taxonomic examination. Also, a disadvantage of this method is that the methods of processing the material sent for research, as a result of the use of concentrated acids for the destruction of organs, greatly complicates and sometimes eliminates the possibility of detection of diatomic plankton. In some cases, the presence of diatoms during drowning is so small that it is impossible to detect them by microscopy. In such cases, the presence of phytoplankton DNA detected by PCR in tissues during drowning is almost the only method for diagnosing drowning. Nowadays there has been a lack of research in the field of forensic medicine related to the use of evidence-based medicine, especially in the field of drowning.