Forensic-medical examination by the Van Forensic Medicine Group Directorate to deaths as a result of lightning strike

Abstract

Lightning strikes may be a cause of death for farmers, sailors, and those engaged in outdoor sports. Death occurs due to damage to the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. In the autopsies performed in cases of lightning strikes, the information about the location of the incident, sociodemographic data, regions of burns and injuries on the body, histopathological findings, and cause of death are examined. In this study, a retrospective evaluation was made of 7 cases for which an autopsy was performed because of lightning strike in the city of Van in eastern Turkey. The deaths were seen to have occurred most often in spring, in the month of May. The 7 cases comprised 85.7% males and 14.3% females with a mean age of 28 years, and all were injured while shepherding. In 2 cases there was a witness, and in 6 cases, there were found to be burns and tears in the clothing. Singeing and flattening of the body hair was seen most often in the chest region. In addition to the findings of lightning strike, there were accompanying findings of blunt trauma (grazes, ecchymosis, lacerations) in 4 cases. There were first and second-degree burns in all the cases, with a mean 11.6% burned surface area. Histopathologically, focal subarachnoidal fresh bleeding was seen in 2 cases, subpleural and intra-alveolar fresh bleeding in the lungs in 2 cases, and interlobular rupture in the lungs in 2 cases. It must not be forgotten that lightning strikes are an uncommon natural catastrophe but have a high mortality rate. Together with the non-specific autopsy findings, examination of the scene of the incident and witness statements will be able to support the determination of the cause of death. [Med-Science 2023; 12(4.000): 1274-7]

Keywords

• lightning strike
• burns
• autopsy findings