2022 ASM / R-0097
Post Mortem CT Findings in Drowning
Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Forensic / Necropsy studies, CT, Education, Forensics
Authors:
D. Stephens, M. Nasreddine
DOI:
10.26044/ranzcr2022/R-0097
Background
- Drowning is defined by the World Health Organisation as the the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid.1 Worldwide, drowning is a major public health problem. In 2019 an estimated 236 000 people died from drowning, making it the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide.2
- Post-Mortem Computed Tomography (PMCT) is being increasingly utilised in the Forensic Medicine setting to assist in determining the cause and manner of death. PMCT can also be used to triage cases and to direct the pathologist to the areas of interest.
- It is generally accepted that not all persons whose bodies are recovered from water have drowned.3 The distinction between death by drowning and death from other causes is an important determination to make with important medicolegal consequences. Drowning, however, may be one of the most difficult forensic diagnoses to make. Consideration of circumstantial data and the exclusion of other causes are also important in reaching the diagnosis.
- The typical findings in drowning described in the literature are reviewed, and illustrated with PMCT imaging from cases in the New Mexico Decedent Image Database (NMDID).4 Following a database search for drowning cases between 2010 and 2017, two hundred deceased individuals were identified in whom the primary cause of death was drowning. Images were subsequently selected from these cases excluding individuals who had findings of decomposition.