Use of nonspecific signs in the diagnosis of asphyxia by submersion. Case and Bibliographic review

Abstract

In the forensic field asphyxiation by drowning represent a great challange for the medical examiners not only for the difficulty to determine the cause of death but for the difficulty to define the circumstances in which the death has occur; and even worse when the body is in advanced stage of decomposition, the challenge is even bigger; therefore in some cases the medical examiners use unespecific findings such as the pink teeth and the ethmoidal haemorrhage to determine the cause of death. We present case report of a child´s body found near by the river, with extended anthropophagy and advanced decomposition stage, the cause of death was concluded based on the pink teeth findings and the ethmoidal haemorrhage and it was defined as asphyxiation by drowning. We analized the validation to use both signs as asphyxial indicators