ArticleInternational journal of legal medicine2021
Macromorphological findings in cases of death in water: a critical view on "drowning signs".
Article in International journal of legal medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- The medico-legal interpretation of diatom findings for the diagnosis of fatal drowning: a systematic review.International journal of legal medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: A Systematic Literature Review of a Silent Contributor to Adult Drowning.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Immunohistochemical cerebral cortex expression of aquaporin 4, aquaporin 5, aquaporin 9 Vasopressin and GFAP in saltwater drowning and freshwater drowning.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Article
- A retrospective case review of decedents recovered from aquatic environments in Cape Town, South Africa.Forensic science, medicine, and pathology · 2026Article
- Postmortem submergence interval (PMSI) and human decomposition in anthropogenically constructed aqueous environments (pools, bathtubs, hot tubs, and spas).Journal of forensic sciences · 2026Article
- Immersion Deaths in Seoul: Implications of Decomposition for Postmortem Diagnosis of Drowning.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Multi-dimensional deep learning-based segmentation and volumetric assessment of sphenoid sinus fluid on postmortem CT in drowning cases.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Water-related fatalities in Salzburg and Upper Austria between 2015 and 2022 - a retrospective evaluation with a focus on the informative value of drowning signs.International journal of legal medicine · 2026Article
- Diatom Analysis in Drowning: A Critical Review of Reliability, Contamination, and Medico-Legal Interpretation.Cureus · 2026Review
- The diatom test for drowning: an unreported source of diatom contamination.International journal of legal medicine · 2025Article
- The current state of forensic imaging - post mortem imaging.International journal of legal medicine · 2025Review
- Forensic Diatom Analysis: Where Do We Stand and What Are the Latest Diagnostic Advances?Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- A fundamental study on postmortem submersion interval estimation by metabolomics analyzing of gastrocnemius muscle from submersed rat models in freshwater.International journal of legal medicine · 2024Article
- Postmortem CT analysis of paranasal sinuses using an experimental model of drowning.International journal of legal medicine · 2024Article
- Influence of the toxicological status on the diagnosis of fatal drowning.International journal of legal medicine · 2023Article
- Validation and optimization of the diatom L/D ratio as a diagnostic marker for drowning.International journal of legal medicine · 2023Article
- Microbial communities in the liver and brain are informative for postmortem submersion interval estimation in the late phase of decomposition: A study in mouse cadavers recovered from freshwater.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Commentary on "Macromorphological findings in cases of death in water: a critical view on drowning signs".International journal of legal medicine · 2021Article
- Epidemiological analysis of intramuscular hemorrhage of respiratory and accessory respiratory muscles in fatal drowning cases.PloS one · 2021Article
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3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Death in water is a challenging issue in forensic pathology since from natural death to homicide all circumstances of death in water are conceivable. Therefore, the correct interpretation of all abnormal autopsy findings is important. In order to determine a death by drowning, numerous internal and external signs of drowning are already described. However, these are supposed to be influenced by various factors reducing their significance and evidence. Moreover, the autopsy of water corpses often reveals further pathological findings that should not be underestimated for determining the cause of death. The aim of this study was to set frequencies of the observed drowning signs in context to the forensic literature and to identify possible influencing factors. In this study, we observed that pathological organ changes of the cardiovascular system were significantly more common in corpses after shortened (atypical) drowning processes than in classical drowned victims. Furthermore only a complete formation of external foam, immediately after the corpse's recovery, was exclusively found in drowning victims. All other drowning signs were either also observed in non-drowning deaths in water or no information could be provided with reasonable assurance. In addition, many of the examined drowning signs were negatively affected by prolonged postmortem intervals, putrefaction, or resuscitation attempts. It can be concluded from our analysis that morbidity is an important factor in deaths in water. Morbidity can support a death by drowning in case of incidents in water. For the examined drowning signs, no high diagnostic certainty could be observed. Nevertheless, these findings can increase their diagnostic value-if forensic physicians take influencing factors into consideration.
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