LAUSR

ABSTRACT Diatoms detected in human organs have been considered as supportive evidence for the diagnosis of drowning. During drowning, the vast majority of diatoms are retained in lung tissues, and only few are transported to distant organs via the bloodstream. In this article, we quantitatively analysed diatom contents in the lung tissues, liver tissues, kidney tissues and the drowning mediums of 165 drowning death cases. The results showed that the diatom content in lung tissues was positively correlated with that in the water samples. However, there was no linear correlation between the diatom content in the liver tissues and that in the water samples. Our study also showed no linear correlation between the diatom content in the kidney tissues and in the water samples. The diatom contents in the liver tissues and kidney tissues were positively correlated, while no linear correlations of diatom contents were found between the liver tissues and lung tissues, and the kidney tissues and lung tissues. These correlations of diatom content in the organs and drowning mediums provide valuable information to interpret and analyse the quantitative results of diatom tests.