title: Death from Hypothermia during a Training Course under "Extreme Conditions": Related to Two Cases.
abstract: Death from hypothermia following exhaustion or from various complicated pathologies is no longer a frequent cause of death among combat troops. During a training course under "extreme conditions" in the French Alps, two young African officers died. Confronted with these two clinically confirmed cases of hypothermia, the unknown anatomopathological and biological specificities associated with death from hypothermia were highlighted. In these typical and clinically confirmed cases of death from subacute exhaustion hypothermia, none of the signs revealed by the autopsy were specific. Although some recent publications have addressed the utility of postmortem biochemical markers when establishing a diagnosis, with no anamnesis, with no knowledge or analysis of the circumstances of death, and without an in situ examination of the body, it appears difficult, if not impossible, to confirm that death was caused by hypothermia.
authors.affiliation: APHM, CHU Timone, Service de Médecine Légale et Droit de la Santé, 13385 Cedex 5, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perich
authors.affiliation: APHM, CHU Timone, Service de Médecine Légale et Droit de la Santé, 13385 Cedex 5, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADES UMR 7268, 13916, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Lucile
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tuchtan
authors.affiliation: APHM, CHU Timone, Service de Médecine Légale et Droit de la Santé, 13385 Cedex 5, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADES UMR 7268, 13916, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bartoli
authors.affiliation: APHM, CHU Timone, Service de Médecine Légale et Droit de la Santé, 13385 Cedex 5, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADES UMR 7268, 13916, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Léonetti
authors.affiliation: APHM, CHU Timone, Service de Médecine Légale et Droit de la Santé, 13385 Cedex 5, Marseille, France.|Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADES UMR 7268, 13916, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Dominique
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Piercecchi-Marti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000473:pathology; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000652:urine; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000209:etiology; D007035:Hypothermia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel; D009051:Mountaineering; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000473:pathology; D012206:Rhabdomyolysis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D012914:Snow; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D000637:Transaminases / Q000032:analysis; D014919:Wind; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D003404:Creatinine; D000637:Transaminases
keywords: anatomopathology; autopsy; biochemical markers; combat troops; forensic science; hypothermia death