Morphological signs of fatal acute general cold injury in the air
- Authors: Chudakov A.Y.1, Bozhchenko A.P.2, Khrustaleva Y.A.2, Tolmachev I.A.2
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Affiliations:
- Saint Petersburg University of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation
- Kirov Military medical academy
- Issue: Vol 8, No 3 (2022)
- Pages: 47-55
- Section: ORIGINAL STUDY ARTICLES
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/2411-8729/article/view/122466
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.17816/fm742
- ID: 122466
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cold trauma is one of the leading causes of violent death in the Russian Federation due to the peculiarities of its geographical location. The pathophysiological processes occurring in the human body during hypothermia remain insufficiently studied despite a large number of studies, and quantitative characteristics of diagnostic signs most often used in expert practice are not precise.
AIMS: To clarify and supplement the complex characteristic and pathognomonic macro- and microscopic signs of fatal acute general cold injury
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Morphological signs of death from general hypothermia were analyzed based on the materials of forensic medical examinations concerning 460 corpses of people who died from hypothermia in the air using descriptive statistics, content-, and formal-logical methods.
RESULTS: The macro- and microscopic signs of cold injury have been clarified, supplemented, and systematized. A quantitative assessment of the frequency of occurrence (detectability) of diagnostically significant signs, most often used in expert practice, is given. The main signs of death from general hypothermia include ischemia of the “shell” in combination with fullness and edema of the “core” of the body, blood thickening with coagulations, micro- and macrothrombosis with hemorrhages into internal organs (brain, brain membranes, heart, lungs, kidneys, stomach, etc.), spasm (rigor mortis) of various muscle groups, and trophic and necrotic changes in internal organs.
CONCLUSION: The revealed signs of death from general acute deep hypothermia in the air expand the existing ideas about the complex characters and pathognomonic signs in this type of injury and allows reliable differential diagnosis of the cause of death during the forensic examination of a corpse.
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##article.viewOnOriginalSite##About the authors
Alexandr Y. Chudakov
Saint Petersburg University of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation
Email: chief.chudakow@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3443-7908
SPIN-code: 2822-8027
MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor
Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgAlexandr P. Bozhchenko
Kirov Military medical academy
Author for correspondence.
Email: bozhchenko@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7841-0913
SPIN-code: 1110-0515
MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Associate Professor
Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgYulia A. Khrustaleva
Kirov Military medical academy
Email: khrustaleva-julia@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5282-7219
SPIN-code: 3622-5270
MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Associate Professor
Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgIgor A. Tolmachev
Kirov Military medical academy
Email: 5154324@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5893-520X
SPIN-code: 5794-9030
MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor
Russian Federation, Saint PetersburgReferences
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