Work

Selective or sufficient? Revisiting forensic cardiac sampling in light of the seaport criteria

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: purpose of the "Big Seaport" is to standardize the evaluation of large samples, ensuring uniformity and inter-institutional reproducibility.The main point of tension between the indications provided by Provenzano's work and the technical requirements represented by the Seaport criteria concerns the dichotomy between a minimum selective threshold (imparted by a principle of ethical selectivity according to Provenzano) and a minimum diagnostic threshold (imparted by a principle of representative rigor according to Maleszewski).For a methodologically reliable diagnosis or to exclude myocarditis, at least six full-thickness sections are required in an autopsy sample.The minimum selective threshold may not satisfy or be included in the minimum diagnostic threshold, especially since myocarditis is not always the cause of sudden death that would justify whole-heart preservation (see Sect. of Maleszewski's work).We believe it is our duty at this time to foster the scientific debate on the newly developed Seaport criteria, which, especially in the forensic field, could play a fundamental role in the daily practice of heart sampling in relation to the assessment of myocarditis.

Source: Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology

DOI: 10.1007/s12024-025-01128-y

Authors: Graziano Domenico Luigi Crudele, Alberto Amadasi

Institutions: Azienda ULSS 9 Scaligera, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Language: English

Topic: Viral Infections and Immunology Research

Subfield: Infectious Diseases

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,790