New diagnostic signs of drowning based on virtual autopsy results

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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.

About the authors

Vladimir A. Klevno

M.F. Vladimirsky Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute

Email: vladimir.klevno@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5693-4054

Dr. Sci. (Med.), Prof., Department of Forensic Medicine, Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute • vladimir.klevno@yandex.ru

Russian Federation, Moscow

Yulia V. Chumakova

M.F. Vladimirsky Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute; Moscow Region Bureau of Forensic Medical Examinati

Author for correspondence.
Email: chumakova@sudmedmo.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9738-8288

Head of the Lobninskiy Department of the Moscow Region Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination; Research Postgraduate, Department of Forensic Medicine, Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute

Russian Federation, Moscow

Maxim A. Kislov

M.F. Vladimirsky Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute

Email: smedik@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9303-7640

Dr. Sci. (Med.), Assoc. Prof., Prof., Department of Forensic Medicine, Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute

Russian Federation, Moscow

Olga M. Popova

Moscow Region Bureau of Forensic Medical Examinati

Email: vodyasova@sudmedmo.ru

Head of the Ramenskiy Department of the Moscow Region Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination

Russian Federation, Moscow

Sofia E. Dubrova

M.F. Vladimirsky Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute

Email: dubrova.sofya@gmail.com

Research Postgraduate, Department of Forensic Medicine, Moscow Regional Research Clinical Institute

Russian Federation, Moscow

References

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. A corpse in the Moscow river

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3. Fig. 2. The body of a girl pulled out of the water

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4. Fig. 3. Fluid in the frontal sinus

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5. Fig. 4. Fluid in the sinuses

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6. Fig. 5. Bloating of the lungs

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7. Fig. 6. Persistent fine-bubbled grayish-pink foam

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Copyright (c) 2020 Klevno V.A., Chumakova Y.V., Kislov M.A., Popova O.M., Dubrova S.E.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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