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An Unusual Case of Sudden Unexpected Death: Postmortem Investigation and Biomechanical Analysis of the Cervical Spine
Author(s) -
Ejlersen June A.,
Dalstra Michel,
Uhrenholt Lars,
Charles Annie Vesterby
Publication year - 2007
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/j.1556-4029.2006.00363.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cervical spine , vertebra , magnetic resonance imaging , cervical vertebrae , physical examination , anatomy , radiology , surgery
A naked man died under peculiar circumstances and the postmortem examination revealed unexpected lesions in the cervical spine. Investigations of the cervical spine (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and histological examination) showed that a piece of bone was torn of the anterior part of vertebra C6 and that there was fresh bleeding in the surrounding tissue. The cause of death remained unclear but was most likely cardiac arrhythmia initiated by β‐2 agonist inhalation due to an acute asthmatic attack. Data from biomechanical investigation using finite element analysis supported the conclusion that the cervical spine injury was secondary to impact during falling as a consequence of the cardiac arrhythmia.