J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 55(3): 241-250, 1954

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Original article

AN ANALYSIS OF THE COMPOSITION OF BLOOD BEFORE DEATH

Daily determinations of amino acid nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen content, hematocrit, plasma protein, and eosinophiles in the arterial blood of 76 hospitalized serious patients were made up to the time of death, and the following conclusions were obtained.
1) The eosinophiles become nil before death according to Dunger method in the majority of cases. It can be said that the fall of eosinophiles to zero may predict death.
2) Changes in hematocrit and plasma protein values have no immediate relationship with death.
3) Decrease of arterial oxygen content, in itself, except in such cases as asphyxia, does not mean death.
4) A group of patients show a marked decrease of arterial carbon dioxide content within 24 hours before death. Decrease in carbon dioxide has an immediate connection with death,
5) If amino acid nitrogen, which has been within normal limits, rises markedly beyond normal range, it is safe to say that the patient will die within 24 hours.
6) It was shown that changes in arterial carbon dioxide content and amino acid nitrogen have a close relation with a group of conditions preceding death. Therefore, a ratio, CO₂ amino acid nitrogen, is proposed as an index for predicting death. It is conclut ded that, if this ratio fall below the normal ranges of 5.0 and 8.3, death is likely to occur, especially below the ratio of 2.0 although a ratio above the normal cannot exclude the possibility of death. (author's abstract)

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