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Pediatr Radiol 2021 Mar 30. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA.

Background: Acute screening of pediatric strangulation and hanging injuries has evolved at many institutions to include cervical arterial vascular imaging. As current standards in pediatric imaging support less radiation exposure and increased imaging appropriateness, it is questionable whether vascular arterial injury is a true risk in this population.

Objective: To determine the role of cervical vascular arterial imaging in the evaluation of pediatric hanging and strangulation injuries. Read More

Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2020 Dec 12;139:110443. Epub 2020 Oct 12.

National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hyoid bone fractures due to blunt trauma are rare accounting for only 0.002% of all head and neck fractures with most documented fractures being due to strangulation, hanging, motorcycle helmet straps, sports injuries and rarely as a complication of intubation. However, they are even rarer in the paediatric age group. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2020 Nov 28;132:109297. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

Department of Radiology, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany. Electronic address:

Purpose: Our study sought to evaluate validity of forensic postmortem CT in establishing cause of death (COD) in suspected unnatural adult death based on the reference standard of autopsy.

Methods: In our prospective, single-center study, 64 of 94 consecutive corpses (70.7 % male, mean age: 47. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2020 Aug 16;313:110340. Epub 2020 May 16.

Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Butenfeld, 34, 22529, Hamburg, Germany.

Introduction: Autoerotic deaths are rare events. The death scene is often bizarre and the death unexpected, thus often requiring forensic autopsies. Our analysis will provide an overview of the expected range of causes and manners of death in cases of autoerotic deaths. Read More

J Forensic Odontostomatol 2020 May 15;1(38):34-38. Epub 2020 May 15.

Forensic Odontology, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Background: In contemporary forensic practice, Medicine and Dentistry combine forces to improve the search for the cause of death and human identification. The pink tooth phenomenon (PTP) is a cadaveric sign that allegedly manifests more often in victims of asphyxia. However, the scientific literature is scarce and controversial on this aspect. Read More

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi 2020 Feb;36(1):61-65

Department of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China.

Abstract: Objective To retrospectively analyze 40 cases of hanging and 33 cases of ligature strangulation in Kunming, to explore the neck injury characteristics and similarities and differences of related asphyxia signs of corpses in hanging and ligature strangulation cases, in order to provide reference for forensic identification. Methods Statistics of hanging and ligature strangulation cases accepted by Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau from 2000 to 2017 were collected. Data including the gender, age, injury tool, neck injury and related asphyxia signs of the deceased in hanging and ligature strangulation cases were statistically tested by SPSS 23. Read More

Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2020 06 27;16(2):234-242. Epub 2020 Mar 27.

Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse, 190/52, CH-8057, Zurich, Switzerland.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the added value of postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to postmortem computed tomography (CT) and autopsy in cases of fatal hanging. In addition, the study analyzed the strengths of each examination method regarding typical injuries in these cases. We investigated a cohort of 25 decedents who underwent CT, MRI and autopsy. Read More

Pediatr Crit Care Med 2020 05;21(5):443-450

Center for Clinical and Translation Research, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.

Objectives: Nosocomial infection is a common source of morbidity in critically injured children including those with traumatic brain injury. Risk factors for nosocomial infection in this population, however, are poorly understood. We hypothesized that critically ill pediatric trauma patients with traumatic brain injury would demonstrate higher rates of nosocomial infection than those without traumatic brain injury. Read More

Ann Emerg Med 2020 03 4;75(3):329-338. Epub 2019 Oct 4.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN. Electronic address:

Study Objective: There is a paucity of evidence to guide the diagnostic evaluation of emergency department (ED) patients presenting after nonfatal strangulation (manual strangulation or near hanging). We seek to define the rate of serious injuries in alert strangled patients and determine which symptoms and examination findings, if any, predict such injuries.

Methods: Using prospectively populated databases and electronic medical record review, we performed a retrospective analysis of alert strangled patients treated in the ED of an academic Level I trauma center. Read More

J Forensic Odontostomatol 2019 May 1;37(1):26-31. Epub 2019 May 1.

Department of Health Sciences, Section of Medical Forensic Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Burned bodies raise relevant issues for forensic patologist and odontologist both for the identification and the cause of death and possible vital burning.. The tongue protrusion is regularly investigated for the death caused by strangulation or hanging, whilst seems to be overlooked in case of charred remains as the significance of this sign is still discussed. Read More

Am J Emerg Med 2019 04 4;37(4):737-739. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, United States of America; Department of Emergency Medicine, Elmhurst Hospital Center, 79-01 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373, United States of America. Electronic address:

Background: Despite rising rates of hanging injuries, few high-quality data and no national trauma guidelines are available to standardize the evaluation of these patients. We sought to identify the yield of imaging hanging patients at our institution.

Methods: This is a retrospective study at an urban Level I Trauma Center. Read More

Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2019 03 9;15(1):84-92. Epub 2019 Jan 9.

Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.

Several articles have described the use of postmortem computed tomography (CT) and postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in forensic medicine. Although access to CT scanners and, particularly, access to MRI scanners, is still limited for several institutes, both modalities are being applied with increasing frequency in the forensic setting. Certainly, postmortem imaging can provide crucial information prior to autopsy, and this method has even been considered a replacement to autopsy in selected cases by some forensic institutes. Read More

J Pathol Inform 2018 19;9:28. Epub 2018 Jul 19.

Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, Forensic Pathology Unit, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Italy.

Background: Interest has grown into the use of multidetector computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging as an adjunct or alternative to the invasive autopsy. We sought to investigate these possibilities in postmortem CT scan using an innovative virtual autopsy approach.

Methods: Twenty-five postmortem cases were scanned with the Philips Brilliance CT-64 and then underwent traditional autopsy. Read More

J Forensic Leg Med 2018 Oct 8;59:50-55. Epub 2018 Aug 8.

Department of Forensic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, 602-8566, Japan
. Electronic address:

Intramuscular bleeding of the tongue (ImBT) is occasionally found during post mortem examination. Despite its frequent reports, its cause has not yet been clarified. In this study, forensic autopsy data of 799 cadavers were examined and the relationship between ImBT and cause of death was investigated. Read More

West J Emerg Med 2018 Jul 4;19(4):707-714. Epub 2018 Jun 4.

American University of Beirut Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Beirut, Lebanon.

Introduction: Asphyxiation or suffocation injuries can result in multi-organ damage and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality among different age groups. This study aims to describe characteristics of patients presenting with suffocation injuries to emergency departments (EDs) in the United States (U.S. Read More

Sud Med Ekspert 2018;61(2):11-13

Republican Bureau of forensic medical expertise of Chuvash Republic, Cheboksary, Russia, 428017.

The objective of the present study was the evaluation of the auxiliary methods for the diagnostics of the intravital formation of the constriction marks; the secondary objective was to determine the pace at which the death and asphyxia occur.

Material And Methods: The materials on which the study was based included 17 cases of mechanical strangulation asphyxia involving 13 men and 4 women at the age from 8 to 28 years. All cases of hanging were associated with different blood alcohol levels. Read More

J Coll Physicians Surg Pak 2018 Apr;28(4):266-269

Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faisalabad Medical University, Faisalabad.

Objective: To determine the frequency of violent asphyxial deaths in Faisalabad over a span of a decade; and assessing the age and gender vulnerability.

Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Place And Duration Of Study: Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, from January 2007 to December 2016. Read More