Current Laboratory Knowledge on Post-Mortem Diagnosis of Infections

Dear Colleagues,

A Special Issue on the hot topic of "Current Laboratory Knowledge on Post-Mortem Diagnosis of Infections" is being prepared for the journals Life and Forensicsci.

Post-mortem diagnosis of infections is not always easy even if in the forensic practice, pathologists can use several methods, such as biochemical analysis of biological fluid (e.g., blood, urine, liquor) or extensive histological or immunohistochemical investigations on tissue samples collected during autopsies. Generally, these techniques and biomarkers may be used in clinical practice for diagnostic purposes, but for forensic purposes, the combination of biomarkers may not always discriminate non-infectious from infectious inflammation and related death. Additionally, with histological analyses, post-mortem diagnosis of infections may not be possible because macroscopic and microscopic findings, such as myocardial ischemia, pulmonary edema, or other signs of hypoxic damage, may be elusive or non-specific and may have an infectious or non-infectious origin. Currently, this topic has assumed more relevance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to better understand the phenomenology of death, especially in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients. Indeed, following an initial period of difficulty, the pandemic has led to a surge in post-mortem research. Techniques and biological samples available for COVID-19 infection diagnosis at post-mortem examination are the same as those used for diagnosis in life. Among these, nose and throat swabs or blood analysis for serology, with the contribution of histological and immunohistochemical analysis on tissue samples from the respiratory tract and additional samples (e.g., brain, heart, liver, spleen, kidney, gastrointestinal tract, and any other tissue with macroscopically evident pathological involvement) could be applied. In this way, autopsy findings provide information on the cause of death and aim to establish whether a subject died from or with COVID-19 infection with implications on global health and for the pathophysiology of new infections. For these reasons, forensic research and applications need to be improved with new methods (e.g., proteomics applications) and new procedures that could be used in combination with well-known techniques.

This Special Issue aims to collect the state of the art on the main topics in the forensic field: techniques and instrument configurations, innovative sample treatment procedures, forensic analysis, legislative comments, nonconventional matrix analysis, and social situations. The aim is to produce a collection/commentary that can help even non-experts to understand the application potential of the innovations obtained in this area and, if necessary, apply and extend them to other fields. In order not to limit the types of publications and to provide a more detailed panorama of the topic, original papers, reviews, short communications, notes, commentaries, case studies, and application notes will be accepted. In particular, “case studies” can be a sort of short communication where the authors directly report a practical case where, perhaps, they have applied innovative approaches to solve the problem. “Legislative comments” refer to a series of articles where laboratory and forensic experts comment on the problems encountered in reconciling what the law requires with what can be done in the forensic laboratory, as well as suggesting possible meeting points.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Life.

Prof. Dr. Marcello Locatelli
Dr. Cristian D’Ovidio
Dr. Enrica Rosato
Dr. Martina Bonelli
Guest Editors

• histological/immunohistochemical analyses 
• proteomic evaluation 
• molecular biology 
• infection and SARS-CoV-2-related infections
• post-mortem diagnosis