NCJ Number
188652
Journal
Legal Medicine Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: August 2000 Pages: 88-92
Date Published
August 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
An analysis of 152 forensic autopsy cases handled by one department in Japan between 1996 and 1998 sought to determine the presence of pink spots on the brain and to confirm them as useful indicators for the presence of infectious bacterial diseases.
Abstract
The forensic literature had not addressed pink spots as described by Hedley-Whyte in 1985, although postmortem changes provided information about cause and time of death in forensic autopsy. Pink spots are sharply demarcated discolorations that are round to oval in shape and with a white center in the deeper areas of the formalin-fixed brain. The brains in the present analysis were fixed in 20 percent phosphate-buffered formalin for 2 weeks. Results of analysis of histology specimens revealed pink spots in 3 of 16 individuals with bacterial infectious diseases and in none of the 136 individuals without bacterial infectious diseases. Findings verified the concept that pink spots correlated with bacterial infections and could indicate infectious diseases when used in the forensic autopsy. Figures and 12 references (Author abstract modified)