Postmortem biochemistry and toxicology

الملخص EN

The aim of postmortem biochemistry and toxicology is either to help establish the cause of death, or to gain information on events immediately before death.

If self-poisoning is suspected, the diagnosis may be straightforward and all that could be required is confirmation of the agents involved.

However, if the cause of death is not immediately obvious then suspicion of possible poisoning or of conditions such as alcoholic ketoacidosis is of course crucial.

On the other hand, it may be important to investigate adherence to prescribed therapy, for example with anticonvulsants or antipsychotics, hence sensitive methods are required