Citation

Carson HJ. J. Forensic Sci. 2010; 55(6): 1534-1542.

Affiliation

Linn County Medical Examiners Office, 930 1st Street SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01490.x

PMID

20629906

Abstract

We investigated how ecchymoses could be used to predict other injuries, or help establish the cause of death. Ecchymoses, fractures, lacerations, abrasions, and other data were recorded. Eleven percent of decedents had ecchymoses. Motor vehicle accident by car (MVA-C) was the most common cause of ecchymoses and showed the most collateral injuries. Decedents of natural causes were more likely to have ecchymoses without collateral injuries. There appeared to be two groups of decedents with ecchymoses: one group is younger, comprised of victims of MVA-C and homicides, with more injuries related to ecchymoses than others; another is an older group of victims of other accidents, natural causes, and suicide. There were no indeterminate causes of death among decedents with ecchymoses. Therefore, ecchymoses may be a surrogate marker to direct the pathologist to continue to seek a cause of death should be seen, even if the case, otherwise, appears to be indeterminate.

Language: en