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Undetermined Manner of Death: An Autopsy Series
Author(s) -
Advenier AnneSophie,
Guillard Nadege,
Alvarez JeanClaude,
Martrille Laurent,
Lorin de la Grandmaison Geoffroy
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.12924
Subject(s) - cause of death , homicide , autopsy , medicine , manner of death , forensic pathology , violent death , poison control , injury prevention , medical emergency , pathology , disease
Abstract A manner of death may be ruled undetermined by the forensic pathologist when there is insufficient information about the circumstances surrounding the death to make a ruling. The aim of our study was to retrospectively analyze a series of autopsy cases that were classified as undetermined manner of death after complete investigations. In all, 48 cases were examined. In 23 cases (48%), the cause of death was determined. The most frequent cause of death was toxic death ( n = 11). More than one manner of death was deemed conceivable for most cases ( n = 39). The most frequent and the most probable manner of death was accident ( n = 37). Homicide was not excluded in about 23% of the cases. Our study showed that the manner of death may remain undetermined despite an established cause of death, and even when two or more conceivable causes of death are considered. Our study pointed out that undetermined manner of death covers a wide range of situations and that homicide may be underestimated.