Diagnostic reliability of the general signs of asphyxia. Practical considerations and review of the literatures

In forensic practice, several authenticated asphyxial deaths due to mechanicalobstruction of the airways showed none of so-called general signs of asphyxia. Conversely, among greater number of deaths from unquestionable natural causes,these signs are often found. In this work, the fact that the general signsof asphyxia are nonspecific findings, and alone by themselves of no value tobase a diagnosis that death was resulted from mechanical asphyxia, wasdiscussed. The objective of the work was to shed light on some important basicpractical diagnostic considerations of asphyxia. The material set out in thework was based on what enclosed between the covers of the acknowledged forensictexts as well as the practical personal observations

Traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage: elastic tissue distribution across the wall of some major cerebral arteries in relation to arterial wall disruption

The observed shredding of the vertebro-basilar arterial wall in cases dying of traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage, together with the uneven centrifugal travel of tears across the wall indicate that, arterial wall never blows out like a simple tube of homogeneous structure, and that there might be some mechanical weak points of apparent normal histological structure. In this work, examination of three groups of intact, in-vivo ruptured and in-vitro ruptured vertebral arteries showed that across the wall of the vertebral artery, the elastic fibres are non-uniformly distributed at the tunica media and adventitia. This finding, would result in uneven strain across the wall when become stressed by the water hammer pressure wave to produce such a type of arterial wall disruption at sites of scanty or lacking elastic fibres