Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling Technique as an alternative for complete diagnostic autopsy

Scholars conducted a study to determine whether the time-frame between the time of death and when
samples for Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling (MITS) were collected affects the results gotten.
MITS technique is an alternative for complete diagnostic autopsy. It involves sampling specific tissue-cell samples for determining the cause of death. This method however, must be aided by other data for it to be successful. It is mostly used by low and middle income level countries because of its cost effective nature.
Scholars sampled tissue cells from twenty children who had died of respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and meningitis. The children were aged between one month and four years of age. The bodies had samples drawn from them after every six hours for four days. During this time the bodies were preserved in a refrigerator at the morgue. The tissue samples were taken from the lungs, liver and blood drawn from the heart.
The pathogens detected in the samples were consistent all through the four days of study. Scholars concluded that the use of MITS method can be used on a corpse up to four days old as long as it has been preserved appropriately.
More details on the study can be found here.
 

News Type
Research News