New diagnostic signs of drowning based on virtual autopsy results

Abstract

Background.The article presents a case study of the local forensic Department GBUZ MO Bureau of forensic medical examination in which the investigation of the corpse of a girl who died from drowning utilized the method of pre-sectional computed tomography (virtual autopsy), with subsequent radiological-anatomical comparison of the results.Aim.Identification of possibilities of computed tomography for establishing diagnostically significant signs of drowning; pre-sectional identification/exclusion of injuries.Material and methods.Computed tomography was performed in the Radiology Department of the district hospital at MSCT Optima of General Electric (64-slice tomograph, with 1.5-mm- and 2-mm-thick sections).Results.When studying the Russian medical literature, there was no description of the presence of fluid in the maxillary and frontal sinuses of corpses extracted from water.Conclusions.The presence of fluid in the maxillary and frontal sinuses revealed during CT examination allowed us to supplement the number of objects for the algological study. The discovery of plankton and quartz-containing particles in the fluid from the paranasal sinuses expanded the evidence base for death by drowning.

Keywords

• drowning
• virtual autopsy
• ct examination of a corpse