title: Characterization of lesions in hanging deaths.
abstract: Hanging is a common method of committing suicide and a routine task in medico-legal autopsies. The hanging mark is the most relevant external sign and its characteristics are well known, but, for unknown reasons, there are major differences in reports on internal findings. We retrospectively studied 228 consecutive cases of hanging deaths. A complete standard autopsy was performed for every case. We investigated the association between the characteristics of the hanging mark and the frequency of bone, cartilage, soft tissue, and vascular injuries with the mode of suspension. Most cases (75.3%) presented some kind of bone or cartilage fracture, but these were unrelated to any of the variables studied. Vascular lesions are clearly more infrequent: intimal injuries were found in the carotid artery (9.1%), the jugular vein (2.2%), and ruptures of the carotid adventitial layer (21.7%). These could be partially associated with the use of a hard fixed noose and body weight.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Forensic Science, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, C /San Francisco s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Suárez-Peñaranda
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: Xoán
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Miguéns
authors.forename: María S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Calvo
authors.forename: Benito López
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: de Abajo
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cortesão
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cordeiro
authors.forename: Duarte N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: José I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Muñoz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001237:Asphyxia / Q000473:pathology*; D020212:Carotid Artery Injuries / Q000473:pathology; D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants / Q000097:blood; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000473:pathology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D005145:Face / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000473:pathology; D050724:Fractures, Cartilage / Q000473:pathology; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006928:Hyoid Bone / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D007817:Laryngeal Cartilages / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000473:pathology; D011693:Purpura / Q000473:pathology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000473:pathology; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002492:Central Nervous System Depressants; D000431:Ethanol