The diagnosis of fatty dystrophy of the myocardium in putrefactive material (a biochemical and histologic study)

The biochemical method of lipid level assessment by their hexane extraction permits a judgement on the presence of obesity (fatty dystrophy) in the myocardium in drastic putrefactive changes in the corpse, when other methods are useless. Use of this method in cases with putrefactive changes will help in many cases to decide the problem on the possible 'cardiac' mechanism of death.