Lipid peroxidation in lung tissue after chest trauma and correlation with the duration of the post-trauma survival period.

Blunt chest trauma is a frequently encountered cause of death in forensic pathology and one of the organs most likely to be affected are the lungs. Assuming that the victim survives the initial trauma, reperfusion processes take place, free radicals are formed and lipid peroxidation occurs. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the length of the survival time is correlated with the extent of lipid peroxidation in the lung tissue following such ischaemia-reperfusion processes. A study of 470 samples taken from all five pulmonary lobes from 94 cadavers was carried out. Cases were allocated to different groups according to whether there was chest trauma and/or a known survival period. Lipid peroxidation was investigated by determining malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. The lowest mean level of peroxidation was found in control cases showing no evidence of chest trauma at autopsy and no apparent survival period. Our results suggest that the level of lipid peroxidation in lung tissue can be a reliable indicator of survival processes.