title: A fifth mechanism of lightning injury.
abstract: The four classic electrical mechanisms of lightning injury cannot account for all injuries. A fifth mechanism, injury by a weak upward streamer that does not become part of a completed lightning channel, has long been postulated in the engineering literature by lightning researchers. This paper reports a case of death where injury from a weak upward streamer is strongly suspected following forensic investigation. Neither high voltage nor any of the previously accepted mechanisms of lightning injury can explain this incident.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Bioengineering Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612-7354, USA. macooper@uic.edu
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D006801:Humans; D015168:Lightning Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged