title: Weight ratio of the lungs and pleural effusion to the spleen in the diagnosis of drowning.
abstract: An accurate and reliable method of diagnosing death by drowning is an important requirement in forensic autopsies. In this study, we compared the weight ratio of the lungs and pleural effusion to the spleen for 55 cases of drowning (37 males, 18 females), 36 cases of mechanical asphyxiation (16 males, 20 females), and 26 cases of acute cardiac death (19 males, 7 females). In the case of the males, there were significant differences in the weight of the spleen and the total weight of the lungs and pleural effusion between drowning and the other causes of death; however, there was no such significant difference in the females. We observed significant differences in the lungs and pleural effusion/spleen weight ratio between drowning and the other causes of death for both sexes. Therefore, these findings suggest that the ratio may be a useful index to accurately diagnose death by drowning, while ruling out mechanical asphyxiation and acute cardiac death in forensic autopsies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishitani
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Shunichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.forename: Kiyomi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imabayashi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000473:pathology; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000473:pathology; D004332:Drowning / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D005618:Fresh Water; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D009929:Organ Size; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000473:pathology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology*