Letter to the Editor regarding the article “Neck vascular lesions in hanging cases: A literature review”

Asirdizer et al. suggest international common autopsy protocols which should also include the use of ancillary techniques such as postmortem radiology and histopathology. However, we think that future prospective and systematic studies with the collection of appropriate control groups are necessary to further investigations on the significance of these vascular signs. Furthermore, since the use of the Glycophorin A for the diagnosis of the true Amussat’s sign was successful, it would be desirable that this immunohistochemical technique might be employed in the other rare and little-known cervical vascular signs related to hanging deaths. Thus, it would be very important for the forensic pathologists to know the sensitivity and specificity of vital (and true) hanging sings in the neck, especially when the judicial authorities ask to differentiate hanging related deaths from postmortem suspensions of the body.