Immunohistochemical analysis of dendritic cells in skin lesions: correlations with survival time (Commentary)

Wound age evaluation is one of the most challenging issues in forensic pathology. In the first minutes or hours, standard histological examination may not determine whether the wound was inflicted in the pre- or post-mortem period. Numerous studies about wound vitality are available in the literature. They have evaluated markers involved in coagulation or inflammation, using various methods such as enzymology, molecular biology or immunohistochemistry. This commentary is focused on the recent proposal to use mast cells and dendritic cells as cellular tools for the discrimination of vital and post mortem wounds.