AUTHOR=Piegari Giuseppe , De Biase Davide , d'Aquino Ilaria , Prisco Francesco , Fico Rosario , Ilsami Raffaele , Pozzato Nicola , Genovese Angelo , Paciello Orlando 

TITLE=Diagnosis of Drowning and the Value of the Diatom Test in Veterinary Forensic Pathology

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2019.00404

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2019.00404

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=The detection of diatoms into the organs is considered an important “biological marker” for the diagnosis of drowning in human pathology, but it still has a high possibility for false positive results.  The aims of this study were: 1) to evaluate the contribution of pathological examination in drowning cases and 2) to investigate the differences in the number and location of diatoms between animals who died in drowning and non-drowning conditions. For these purposes, thirty dead adult dogs were selected for the study and subdivided into 5 groups. The group A comprised 6 cadavers dead for drowning; the group B comprised 6 control animals; the groups C, D and E comprised 6 animals dead for causes other than drowning and subsequently immersed in water for 24, 48 and 72 hours respectively. On each animal, a complet macroscopic and histological examination and diatom test were performed. Diatoms test  and quantification were also performed on drowning mediums.  Pathological findings of the animals in the group  A showed pulmonary congestion, oedema and haemorrages in the lung. However, similar injuries were also observed in control and experimentally submerged cadavers. In contrast, we observed a statistically differences between drowning animals and all experimentally submerged groups and control animals regarding diatom numbers recovered from organ tissue samples (p<0.05). Therefore, these findings suggest that the number of diatoms may be used as a valid tool to differentiate animals who died in drowning and non-drowning conditions, even if the latter were found in an aquatic environment.