Femoral Blood
Definition
Peripheral venous blood drawn from the femoral vein after clamping it off proximally. Considered the gold-standard antemortem-equivalent matrix because it is anatomically isolated from heart, lung and liver reservoirs.
- Source
- Femoral vein, peripheral
- Collection
- After proximal clamping
- Role
- Gold-standard toxicology matrix
- Advantage
- Isolated from heart, lung, liver reservoirs
Common questions
Why is femoral blood preferred over heart blood for postmortem toxicology?+
Blood pooled in or near the heart is prone to postmortem redistribution, where drugs stored in surrounding tissues like the lungs and liver diffuse into cardiac blood after death, artificially inflating concentrations. The femoral site is anatomically distant from those reservoirs, giving a result closer to the antemortem level.
Does clamping the femoral vein before drawing blood actually matter for the result?+
Yes, clamping proximally prevents blood from other body regions being drawn down into the sample during collection, which would reintroduce the redistribution contamination the femoral site is specifically chosen to avoid.
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