Drowning of a girl with anomaly of the bundle of His and the right bundle branch

Forensic investigation of submersion deaths

CONTEXT

The diagnosis of the cause and the establishment of the manner of death in submersion cases are routine challenge for forensic pathologists as it presents considerable diagnostic difficulties.

OBJECTIVE

To concisely review the main questions during a submersion death investigation and to give the respective documented answers.

DATA SOURCES

The search strategy included a literature search of PubMed, Medline and Google Scholar databases, as well as a review of the cited references by the identified studies and a hand search of relevant textbooks and reference works.

CONCLUSIONS

A complete autopsy, histopathological examination and full toxicological screening are important to determine whether death indeed followed submersion in the water, or to see whether any natural disease or substance use have contributed or caused death. In ambiguous situations, the co-estimation of circumstantial evidence may be of invaluable importance toward the conclusion concerning the cause and the manner of death. The thorough forensic investigation of the submersion deaths not only serves the justice administration, but it also presents considerable benefits for the public health.

Sudden adult death: a medico-legal series of 77 cases between 1995 and 2000

Among all the autopsies performed between 1995 and 2000 in our Department, 77 adult cases of sudden death were selected. Sex, age, place of death, circumstances of death, causes of death and heart weight were reported from these 77 post-mortem records. A complete forensic autopsy was performed in every case. Sudden death occurred more frequently in males at rest. Strenuous activity was rarely involved in sudden death and 72.7% of the cases died from cardiovascular disease, mainly coronary atherosclerosis. Non-cardiac causes were dominated by pulmonary and neurological diseases. Cardiomegaly was a frequent finding in cases who died from cardiac pathology. This study underlines the importance of complete medico-legal investigations in case of sudden death. Multiple heart samples are required in order to detect focal microscopic lesions, such as myocarditis and some forms of cardiomyopathy with minimal gross abnormalities. The post-mortem diagnosis of such cardiomyopathies is very important because the family of the deceased may undergo a possible screening. Toxicology is useful in the diagnosis of epileptic seizure and in identifying drugs like metamphetamine as a risk factor for some lethal cardiovascular pathologies such as aortic dissection. Molecular biology can also be helpful when limits of morphological diagnosis have been reached.

Sudden death in an adult with a small ventricular septal defect and an aneurysmal membranous septum

An apparently healthy man of 26 years of age suddenly died. He was known to have had a small ventricular septal defect and complete right bundle branch block from early childhood. At post-mortem examination the small ventricular septal defect was found associated with an aneurysm of the membranous septum. Histological examination showed a normal atrioventricular node and bundle, adjacent to the aneurysm. There was fibrous interruption at the commencement of the right bundle branch, which was considered the basis of the bundle branch block. It was also considered that the right bundle branch block was of the hereditary type and that this, rather than the aneurysm of the membranous septum, was responsible for the unexpected death.