Postmortem non-invasive virtual autopsy: death by hanging in a car.

Bolliger, Stephan; Thali, Michael; Jackowski, Christian; Aghayev, Emin; Dirnhofer, Richard; Sonnenschein, Martin (2005). Postmortem non-invasive virtual autopsy: death by hanging in a car. Journal of forensic sciences, 50(2), pp. 455-460. Wiley

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A body was found behind a car with a noose tied around its neck, the other end of the rope tied to a tree. Apparently the man committed suicide by driving away with the noose tied around his neck and was dragged out of the car through the open hatchback. postmortem multislice-computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated that the cause of death was cerebral hypoxia due to classic strangulation by hanging, and not due to a brainstem lesion because of a hang-man fracture as would be expected in such a dynamic situation. Furthermore, the MRI displayed intramuscular haemorrhage, bleeding into the clavicular insertions of the sternocleidomastoid muscles and subcutaneous neck tissue. We conclude that MSCT and MRI are useful instruments with an increased value compared with 2D radiographs to augment the external findings of bodies when an autopsy is refused. But further postmortem research and comparing validation is needed.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine 04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute for Evaluative Research into Orthopaedic Surgery
UniBE Contributor:	Bolliger, Stephan, Thali, Michael, Jackowski, Christian, Aghayev, Emin, Dirnhofer, Richard
Subjects:	600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
ISSN:	0022-1198
Publisher:	Wiley
Language:	English
Submitter:	Antoinette Angehrn
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2015 11:40
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:49
PubMed ID:	15813559
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/72530