CORRESPONDENCE
troversial; but I think they are biased in stating that, "Early investigators thought sperm was a better indicator of semen presence; more recent studies consider ACP a more sensitive ..."
Having recently reviewed the same subject, I came to the opposite conclusion. 1 Excellent, recent studies have agreed that the finding of sperm is a more sensitive indicator in a total of more than 2,200 patients. Β’-s In fact, in reviewing the authors' references 4, 7, 11, 15, 18, 23, and 28-30, I found the following: the conclusion from 4, 7, and 23 was misquoted --those authors found sperm to be more sensitive; reference 1! did not provide data to adequately compare; references 15 and 18 agreed with their study (a total of 99 patients); I was unable to locate their references 28 to 30 (from 1949, 1974, and 1969, respectively).
Although Ricci and Hoffman apparently did not read all their references, their study is a good addition to the continuing controversy. Nonetheless, at the current time I feel that sperm is as reliable (in fact, probably more so) as acid phosphatase in determination of semen in a rape victim.
β’ Obviously the point is rather moot since both are eminently acceptable in a court of law.