@article{ref1,
title="Cardiac disease and probable intent after drowning",
journal="American journal of emergency medicine",
year="2013",
author="Claesson, Andreas and Druid, Henrik and Lindqvist, Jonny and Herlitz, Johan",
volume="31",
number="7",
pages="1073-1077",
abstract="AIM: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of cardiac disease and its relationship to the victim's probable intent among patients with cardiac arrest due to drowning. METHOD: Retrospective autopsied drowning cases reported to the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine between 1990 and 2010 were included, alongside reported and treated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests due to drowning from the Swedish Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Registry that matched events in the National Board of Forensic Medicine registry (n = 272). RESULTS: Of 2166 drowned victims, most (72%) were males; the median age was 58 years (interquartile range, 42-71 years). Drowning was determined to be accidental in 55%, suicidal in 28%, and murder in 0.5%, whereas the intent was unclear in 16%. A contributory cause of death was found in 21%, and cardiac disease as a possible contributor was found in 9% of all autopsy cases. Coronary artery sclerosis (5%) and myocardial infarction (2%) were most frequent. Overall, cardiac disease was found in 14% of all accidental drownings, as compared with no cases (0%) in the suicide group; P = .05. Ventricular fibrillation was found to be similar in both cardiac and noncardiac cases (7%). This arrhythmia was found in 6% of accidents and 11% of suicides (P = .23). CONCLUSION: Among 2166 autopsied cases of drowning, more than half were considered to be accidental, and less than one-third, suicidal. Among accidents, 14% were found to have a cardiac disease as a possible contributory factor; among suicides, the proportion was 0%. The low proportion of cases showing ventricular fibrillation was similar, regardless of the presence of a cardiac disease.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0735-6757",
doi="10.1016/j.ajem.2013.04.004",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2013.04.004"
}