On the diagnosis of intrauterine asphyxia from the content of lipids in the lungs of fresh and putrefied corpses of newborns

Lipid content was measured in lung tissue of live and stillborn newborns with and without putrefactive changes by biochemical method of lipid extraction by hexane from dried fragments. Biochemical detection of high levels of lipids in pulmonary tissue from newborns both with and without putrefactive changes was found to be an evidence of intrauterine asphyxia caused by aspiration of amniotic fluid, and, hence, this method helped assess the contribution of intrauterine asphyxia to the origin and cause of death. The results are of paramount importance for forensic medicine, particularly so in cases when putrefied corpses of newborns have to be examined and there is no data on the course of pregnancy and labor.