The medico-legal interpretation of diatom findings for the diagnosis of fatal drowning: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT: The diagnostic use of the diatom test for drowning has been under investigation for more than a century. Despite continuing research, its true usefulness remains controversial and under debate. Data regarding the extent to which diatoms can penetrate the lungs and other organs of drowning victims are conflicting; similar discrepancies exist as to the presence of diatoms in the organs of living individuals; and as to the occurrence of postmortem (PM) contamination. To shed light on current understanding, we conducted a systematic review based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) to investigate how the presence of diatoms PM may be interpreted during medico-legal investigations of drowning. Following sequential screening of records based on our pr

SUBMITTER: Tyr A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11850479 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature