title: [Cause of death in a patient lifting device].
abstract: Under the aspect of unusual and primarily obscure finding situations of dead bodies the case of a 81-year-old female occupant of an old people's home is reported. The woman was found dead being suspended by the hook of a patient's lifting machine, which had perforated through the floor of the mouth into the oral cavity. In the course of judicial inquiry first a homicide or a suicide, respectively, were justly considered. The autopsy results and circumstances of the case, however, pointed to a natural death (acute coronary insufficiency) with a preterminal/agonal fall into the hook of the lifting machine. An orthostatic circulatory dysregulation due to the suspension has possibly functioned as an additional mechanism accelerating death.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Universität zu Köln.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grellner
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Madea
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D009333:Neck / Q000473:pathology; D019838:Neck Injuries; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D014910:Wheelchairs; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000473:pathology
vernacular_title: Tod im Personenlifter.