Benefits of pmCT examination in forensic diagnostics of drowning and differential diagnosis of bodies Benefits of pmCT examination in forensic diagnostics of drowning and differential diagnosis of bodies pulled out of water
Abstract
Introduction: The forensic radiology constitutes a new trend in forensic medicine in the last decades. The post mortem computed tomography (pmCT) represents the most significant and the most useful radiological method in forensic medicine.
The aim of this study was to scrutinize diagnostic benefits of pmCT in forensic diagnostics of drowning and differential diagnostics of bodies recovered from water. Materials and methods: We analyzed 27 cases of drowning.
In all cases the pmCT examination was performed before the conventional autopsy. Typical signs of drowning was researched and analyzed on the pmCT and compared with autopsy findings: emphysema aquosum, fluid in paranasal sinuses (Svěšnik's sign), presence of the foam around mouth, fluid in the airways, Wydler's sign, Sabinski's sign, Ueno's sign, hemodilution in the left heart sections, presence of the diatoms, and descendent type of autolysis.
Results: Signs of drowning that can be equivalently evaluated on pmCT include: emphysema aquosum, fluid in paranasal sinuses (Svěšnik's sign), fluid in the airways, Wydler's sign, and hemodilution in the left heart sections.