The post mortem temperature plateau and its role in the estimation of time of death. A review

The purpose of this paper was to examine evidence to seek an explanation of the possible cause(s) or contributing factors to the temperature plateau phenomenon and its influence on time of death (TOD) estimation. The concept of the temperature plateau effect (TPE) is reviewed, and investigation is conducted into its possible prediction under post mortem conditions. The conclusion of this paper is that the appearance of a TPE in postmortem body core temperature decay curves is currently random and cannot be predicted. This unpredictability is based upon the interindividual differences in states (core body temperature, hyperthermia, use of drugs, trauma, etc.) and biomarker concentrations (electrolytes, thyroxine, etc.) at antemortem times, which will ultimately affect the shape of the postmortem temperature decay curve. However, studies indicated that the TPE is diminished or even absent in the head tissues, including eye and ear. The possibility of precise estimation of the TOD in the early post mortem period based on eye temperature measurements is also commented.