Citation

Giorgetti R, Bellero R, Giacomelli L, Tagliabracci A. J. Forensic Sci. 2009; 54(3): 672-675.

Affiliation

Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Medicina Legale, Universit Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, 60126, Italy. r.giorgetti@univpm.it

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

19445027

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of distinguishing deaths by asphyxia from those due to natural causes by comparing morphometric measurements in lungs. The study population comprised 27 subjects: 14 cases of death by asphyxia (hanging or drowning) and 13 cases of sudden natural death. Eighty parenchyma sections were used for each subject. Data were collected by computerized image analysis. Measurements aimed at quantifying, as percentages, pulmonary parenchyma (mean values of positive-fraction areas [PFA] and their standard deviations). Subjects who died of natural causes and of drowning showed a relative internal homogeneity compared to those who hanged. Results show significant discrimination between drowned subjects and those dying of natural causes (mean of PFA p = 0.01) and between hanged and drowned subjects (SD of PFA p = 0.04). Attention must be paid to the possible role played by senile emphysema. The method is proposed as a complementary tool in forensic cases.

Language: en