NCJ Number
226907
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 54 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 672-675
Date Published
May 2009
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This study determined whether deaths by asphyxia could be distinguished from deaths due to natural causes by comparing morphometric measurements in lungs.
Abstract
Only one group of subjects who died of asphyxia (drowning) could be distinguished from subjects who died of natural causes by conducting morphometric measurements in lungs. The method proposed can be useful, in combination with well-established methods, in distinguishing between deaths due to sudden cardiac arrest and that resulting from drowning, using the parameters’ mean of the positive-fraction area (PFA), which indicates the degree of emphysema. The parameter standard deviation (SD) of the PFA (i.e., variability of emphysema in different fields of the lungs) can help to distinguish asphyxia from drowning from asphyxia due to hanging. Death due to asphyxia presents an intrinsic heterogeneity in quantitative data from morphometric measurements in lungs, with the heterogeneity being greatest among hanging victims. This is probably due to the complex mechanism of death, which is not simply asphytic. Future studies in this area should involve larger population samples, comorbidities consideration, agony lasting evaluation, and weighting of other confounding parameters. For the current study, the sample population consisted of 27 subjects selected from routine autopsy cases. The criteria for exclusion were age at death of less than 75 years old, signs of general or pulmonary putrefactions, and occasional pulmonary pathology. The mean interval between death and autopsy was 50 hours. Four cube-shaped fragments, approximately 2.5 x 2.5 cm, were taken from the costal surface of upper and lower lobes of the lung. Each fragment was routinely processed for optical microscope evaluation. Images of all fields were evaluated on a CIRES workstation image analysis system that consisted of a conventional light microscope connected to a 3CCD color video camera. 8 tables, 5 figures, and 13 references