The state of the art for determining postmortem interval in submerged bodies however reflects a serious lack of studies. The objectives of the present study were therefore to study cerebral and tympanic cooling in water and its relation to cooling in air, in a pig model. Nine pairs of heads were exposed to 9 temperature interval from 0°C to 20°C. For every set temperature, one head was placed in water, the other in a thermostatic chamber at ambient temperature. Ear and brain temperature were simultaneously measured every 10 minutes for 8h. Results showed that both in air and in water, cooling curves were exponential, regardless of the site (ear or brain) or the environmental temperature. Cooling was always more rapid in water than in air. Cerebral and tympanic cooling always had a correlation coefficient higher than 0.99. Assuming that these cooling patterns are applicable to man, this research could allow for PMI estimation in submerged cadavers starting from tympanic formulae for men.

Effect of immersion on post mortem cooling in pigs: possible application to humans / J. Poudoulec, C. Jouineau, C. Cattaneo, E. Baccino. - In: JOURNAL DE MÉDECINE LÉGALE, DROIT MÉDICAL, VICTIMOLOGIE, DOMMAGE CORPOREL. - ISSN 0999-9809. - 49:7-8(2006 Nov), pp. 333-342.

Effect of immersion on post mortem cooling in pigs: possible application to humans

C. Cattaneo
Penultimo
;
2006

Abstract

The state of the art for determining postmortem interval in submerged bodies however reflects a serious lack of studies. The objectives of the present study were therefore to study cerebral and tympanic cooling in water and its relation to cooling in air, in a pig model. Nine pairs of heads were exposed to 9 temperature interval from 0°C to 20°C. For every set temperature, one head was placed in water, the other in a thermostatic chamber at ambient temperature. Ear and brain temperature were simultaneously measured every 10 minutes for 8h. Results showed that both in air and in water, cooling curves were exponential, regardless of the site (ear or brain) or the environmental temperature. Cooling was always more rapid in water than in air. Cerebral and tympanic cooling always had a correlation coefficient higher than 0.99. Assuming that these cooling patterns are applicable to man, this research could allow for PMI estimation in submerged cadavers starting from tympanic formulae for men.
Animal experimentation; Cerebral temperature; Immersion; Postmortem interval; Tympanic temperature
Settore MED/43 - Medicina Legale
nov-2006
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/218688
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