Doble mecanismo de estrangulación. A propósito de un caso / Double mechanism of strangulation. Apropos of a case

RESUMEN Las asfixias mecánicas son aquellas que resultan del impedimento mecánico a la penetración del aire en las vías respiratorias, suelen clasificarse atendiendo a la naturaleza del medio mecánico que las origina y a su modo de actuar. La estrangulación puede definirse como la constricción del cuello mediante la aplicación de una fuerza activa, ajena al peso del cuerpo, que actúa por intermedio de un lazo, las manos, el antebrazo o cualquier otra estructura rígida. En la estrangulación antebraquial, la constricción del cuello se lleva a cabo normalmente rodeando al individuo con el brazo y el antebrazo. Cuando el mecanismo de la compresión del cuello es lateral, no se afectan las vías aéreas, la compresión de las arterias carótidas hace que se produzca una isquemia cerebral y pérdida de conocimiento en 10-15 segundos. El mecanismo de muerte en estos casos será la anoxia cefálica. Si la compresión del cuello es anterior, actúa ocluyendo las vías aéreas, la presión sobre los cartílagos tiroides y cricoides puede producir fracturas y el mecanismo de muerte será la obstrucción respiratoria. El presente trabajo constituyó un caso poco común de estrangulación, donde se utilizó un mecanismo combinado que llevó al occiso al deceso final. Para la realización de la discusión del caso se tuvo en cuenta los elementos del lugar del hecho, el examen del exterior y el interior del cadáver (AU).

ABSTRACT Mechanical asphyxias are those resulting from the mechanical obstruction of the air penetration in the airways. They are usually classified according to the nature of the mechanical mean producing it and the way it performs. Strangulation may be defined as neck constriction through the application of an active force not proper to the body weight, acting by means of a knot, hands, forearm or any stiff structure. In ante brachial strangulation, neck constriction is normally performed surrounding the individual with the arm and forearm. When the neck constriction mechanism is lateral, the airways are not affected: carotid arteries constriction produces a brain stroke and loss of consciousness in 10-15 s. The death mechanism in these cases will be cephalic anoxia. If the neck compression is anterior, it occludes the airways; the pressure on thyroidal and cricoid cartilages may produce fractures and death mechanism will be respiratory obstruction. The current work deals with an uncommon strangulation case, where a combined mechanism led the person to the final decease. For the case discussion the authors took into account the elements of the place, and the examination of the exterior and the inside of the corpse (AU).

Ahorcamiento con soga. Presentación de un caso atípico / Hanging with rope. Presentation of an atypical case

RESUMEN Las asfixias mecánicas son aquellas que resultan de un impedimento mecánico a la penetración del aire en las vías respiratorias. Suelen clasificarse atendiendo a la naturaleza del medio mecánico que las origina, y a su modo de actuar. El ahorcamiento no es más que la constricción del cuello, ejercida por un lazo sujeto a un punto fijo, sobre el cual ejerce tracción el propio peso del cuerpo. La muerte, según las circunstancias del caso, puede ocurrir por un mecanismo asfíctico, circulatorio, inhibitorio o por lesión medular (caso raro de presentación). El presente trabajo constituyó un caso atípico de ahorcamiento. El ciudadano que resultó fallecido, al dejarse caer bruscamente del balcón de su vivienda, con el dogal en el cuello (soga) y quedar pendiendo el cuerpo, ocasionó un traumatismo raquimedular severo; lo que trajo como consecuencia que se produjera una fractura de la 3ra vértebra cervical, y una contusión medular que lo llevó a la muerte de forma instantánea por el shock medular ocasionado. Para la discusión del caso se tuvo en cuenta los elementos del lugar del hecho, y el examen del cadáver externa e internamente.

ABSTRACT Mechanical asphyxias are those resulting from a mechanical interruption of air penetration to the respiratory tract. They are usually classified according to the nature of the mechanical mean originating them and the way they perform. Hanging is no more that the neck constriction, executed by a lace attached to a fixed point, on which the proper weight of the body applies traction. Death, according to the circumstances of the case, may occur by an asphyxiating, circulatory, inhibitory mechanism or by medullar lesion (a rare case of presentation). The current work reports a case of atypical hanging. The person who died, when abruptly jumped down the balcony of his house with the rope around the neck and the body was left pending, suffered a severe spinomedullar trauma, causing a fracture of the 3rd cervical vertebra, and a medullar contusion causing an instantaneous death due to the medullar shock. To discuss the case, the authors took into account elements of the location where it took place, and the external and internal examination of the body.

Newer trends in hanging death.

A total of 105 cases of deaths due to hanging were studied in a span of 5 years time. This present study throws some light on the emerging trends that Hanging is increasingly being adopted by a relatively younger age group who are mostly illiterate and of poor socio-economic status. Hanging being viewed as giving swift painless death and without much expenses and without arousing much suspicion, this mode is increasingly adopted to commit suicide. Dribbling saliva mark, which was a hallmark of Ante-mortem hanging, is increasingly seen in less number of cases. No incidence of fracture of Hyoid bone being seen in this study, due to the fact that most cases were of lower age group and also may be due to most of the victims adopting soft ligatures and low suspension points. Transverse tears in the Carotid arteries were not seen here and on subjecting to Histo-pathological study, we could detect disruption of intimal layer of Carotid artery. Effect of pressure on layers of skin were seen on Histo-pathological study showing vital reaction changes useful for labelling Ante-mortem hanging.

Nomenclature for knot position in hanging A study of 200 cases.

Hanging is one of the common methods of committing suicide world wide. Position of the knot, in hanging cases is important as it determines the post-mortem findings of the head and face and can also be used to predict the expected autopsy findings. Although hanging has been described in forensic literature since ages, there has been no proper scientific nomenclature for classifying the position of knot in hanging cases. This paper describes a new nomenclature of exact knot position on the neck based on commonly used anatomical landmarks with self explanatory terms of classification, so that it can be understood and used by the autopsy surgeons and the pathologists with ease. In the present study 200 cases of hanging were studied retrospectively and position of knot is classified according to a newly described nomenclature. The new nomenclature classifies the position of knot into 6 major classes each of which are further subdivided into 3 subcategories thus making 18 different positions on each side of neck. The most common position of knot was found at occipitomastoid region (32%) and the least common position being at mental region (2%).

Pattern of neck findings in suicidal hanging A study in Manipur.

Deaths due to hanging are common among suicides. In a study on 84 cases of suicidal hanging brought for autopsy to the mortuary of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal during 2004 to 2008, it was observed that 77.38% of the cases were males and 22.62% were females. The highest number of victims was in the age range of 21-40 years. 73.81% of the cases committed suicide indoors and 57.14% of them used ropes as ligature material. 85.75% of the victims had fixed knots with a single turn and 10.71% had slip knots. Complete atypical hanging constituted 88.10% of the cases. 23.81% of the cases had tear of the carotid artery and 3.57% had hyoid fractures. None of the cases had cricoid or trachea fractures. The neck findings vary depending upon the composition, multiplicity and tightness of the ligature material used, the suspension time, type of hanging, etc. Hence, the possible findings in a suspected case of hanging must be always anticipated so as to avoid any erroneous opinion.

Associação entre dois diferentes tipos de estrangulamento com a variação da pressão intraocular em atletas de jiu-jitsu / Association between two different types of strangling and intraocular pressure variation in jiu-jitsu athletes

OBJETIVO: Verificar a associação entre dois diferentes tipos de estrangulamento com a variação da pressão intraocular em atletas de jiu-jitsu. MÉTODO: Estudo observacional em grupo de 9 atletas de jiu-jitsu, com mínimo 6 meses de treinamento, sexo masculino, idades entre 20 e 30 anos, sem presença de lesões físicas e do bulbo ocular. Buscou-se associação entre a variação da pressão intraocular e os estrangulamentos Frontal da Guarda (E1) e Frontal da Montada (E2). A pressão intraocular foi determinada com o tonômetro de Perkins, inicialmente sem que o atleta tivesse realizado atividade física nas 24 horas antecedentes e após cada golpe. Realizou-se medidas da pressão intraocular por 12 minutos, uma a cada 3 minutos de recuperação (R1; R2; R3; R4), com o indivíduo deitado. Como procedimento estatístico foi empregado o teste ANOVA e o pós-teste de Bonferroni. RESULTADOS: Ocorreu redução significativa da pressão intraocular em ambos os olhos durante a situação E2 comparada a E1 em todos os momentos da aferição de recuperação: R1 (OD: 8,22 ± 1,39 vs.11,33 ± 2,00 / OE: 8,55 ± 1,23 vs. 11,88 ± 1,90), R2 (OD: 8,44 ± 1,87 vs.10,22 ± 2,53 / OE: 9,00 ± 1,80 vs. 10,44 ± 2,35), R3 (OD: 8,44 ± 1,74 vs.9,78 ± 2,54 / OE: 8,55 + 1,42 vs. 10,33 ± 1,93) todos com p<0,01 e R4 (OD: 8,88 ± 2,08 vs.9,55 ± 2,87 / OE: 9,11 ± 1,53 vs. 10,44 ± 2,18) com p<0,05. A redução da PIO foi significativamente maior (p < 0,05) no E2 no momento R1 (OD: 10,77 ± 1,92 vs.8,22 ± 1,39 / OE: 11,44 ± 1,94 vs. 8,55 ± 1,23). CONCLUSÃO: Houve associação entre a pressão intraocular e o estrangulamento no jiu-jitsu, com redução desta.

PURPOSE: To verify the association between two different types of strangling with intraocular pressure variation in jiu-jitsu athletes. METHODS: An observational study was performed on 9 athletes of jiu-jitsu, with at least 6 month of training, male, aged 20 to 30 years, without any physical and eyeball lesions. Associations between intraocular pressure and Cross Choke from the guard strangling (E1), and E2 - Cross Choke from mount strangling were gotten. Intraocular pressure was determined by using Perkins tonometer, at first in the absence of physical exercise over the last 24 hours and after each strangling. Then it was carried out the intraocular pressure measure at each 3 minutes, during 12 minutes of exercise recovery (R1, R2, R3, and R4) keeping the athletes lied down. Statistical analysis was done using ANOVA test and Bonferroni post-test. RESULTS: Meaningful reduction of both eyes intraocular pressure occurred at the E2 situation comparing to the E1 situation at all exercise recovery measures: R1 (OD: 8.22 ± 1.39 vs.11.33 ± 2.00 / OE: 8.55 ± 1.23 vs. 11.88 ± 1.90), R2 (OD: 8.44 ± 1.87 vs.10.22 ± 2.53 / OE: 9.00 ± 1.80 vs. 10.44 ± 2.35), R3 (OD: 8.44 ± 1.74 vs.9.78 ± 2.54 / OE: 8.55 ± 1.42 vs. 10.33 ± 1.93) all with p<0,01 e R4 (OD: 8.88 ± 2.08 vs.9.55 ± 2.87 / OE: 9.11 ± 1.53 vs. 10.44 ± 2.18) with p<0.05. Meaningful IOP reduction (p<0.05) was observed at the R1 moment of E2 strangling (OD: 10.77 ± 1.92 vs.8.22 ± 1.39 / OE: 11.44 ± 1.94 vs. 8.55 ± 1.23). CONCLUSION: There is association between intraocular pressure and jiu-jitsu strangling exercises, with intraocular pressure reduction.