Post Mortem Study Of Injuries to the Internal Neck Structures in Cases of Death Due To Hanging.

Virtually all hangings are suicidal in nature and all ligature strangulations are homicidal in nature. So for the purpose of police investigation differentiation between two is very important and necessary. It is generally said that deaths due to hanging are devoid of any injury to the internal neck structures while in strangulation these injuries are always present. So injuries to the internal neck structures are sometimes used as differentiating factor between hanging and strangulation along with other factors. Aim: The aim of this study is to know the prevalence of injuries to the internal neck structures in deaths due to hanging. Method: This study was conducted at mortuary of the civil hospital, Ahmadabad in the year 2013. Total 40 cases of deaths due to hanging were randomly selected. Result: Out of these 40 cases 26(65%) were male and 14(45%) were female. 22 (55%) cases were showing injuries to the internal neck structures in the form of haemorrhage in to the soft tissues and strap muscles or fracture of superior horn of thyroid cartilage or greater cornue of hyoid bone. However these injuries are mainly found present beneath the ligature mark except some indirect injuries e.g. haemorrhage at the origin of sternomastoid muscle and avulsion fracture of greater cornue of hyoid bone due to over stretching of thyro-hyoid membrane. These injuries in cases of hanging are not extensive as found in cases of death due to strangulation. In one case extension distraction fracture of cervical spine at c3-c4 level was found which very rare finding in suicidal hanging is. Conclusion: From the present study it is evident that injuries to the internal neck structures are not very uncommon in the hanging. Though the extent and frequency of injuries are less compare to the ligature strangulation.

Post mortem study of congenital anomalies of the sternum bone.

Introduction: The sternum is one of the skeleton parts with frequent variation in appearances on images or autopsy series. Method:Present study was carried out during the year 2010 and 2011 at Department of Forensic Medicine, P. D. U. Government Medical College, Rajkot. The study was carried out to find out congenital anomalies of sternum bone recovered from the cadavers during post mortem examination. Result: Total 114 sternum bones were studied out of which 24 were having congenital anomalies either in the body of sternum or in xiphoid process. No any abnormality is found in manubrium. Sternal foramen is found in 10 cases and it is the most common form of congenital anomaly of sternum. Other anomalies are xiphoid foramen in 7 cases, fissured 4th segment in 5 cases and bifid xiphoid is found in 2 cases. Misinterpretation of autopsy findings has been a major concern to forensic pathologists. This article documents the occurrence of relatively rare congenital anomalies which may be misleading and may result in serious erroneous conclusions, particularly when evaluating skeletonised human remains. Conclusion: Presence of these anomalies and their antemortem records in the form of previous x rays make important data for the identification of skeletonised remains.