1Assistant Professor in Forensic Medicine, Govt. Medical College, Thrissur
2Associate Professor of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Thrissur, Kerala
3Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita University, Kochi, India
4Professor of Forensic Medicine, Malabar Medical College and Research Centre, Calicut
*Corresponding author: Hitheshsanker T S, Associate Professor of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Thrissur, Kerala, hitheshshankar@gmail.com. Phone: +91 94474 65319
Online published on 13 December, 2018.
In current forensic practice, it remains difficult to demonstrate that drowning was the cause of death in certain cases. Once putrefaction is established and certainly when it is advanced, the diagnosis is a matter of inference. Svechnikov's sign1 (presence of free liquid within the spenoidal air sinuses) has been proposed as a diagnostic test of drowning.2
To detect, quantitate and validate the presence of fluid in sphenoid sinuses and to compare the findings in drowning and non drowning cases.
50 drowning victims brought for autopsy examination at a teaching hospital in central Kerala formed the cases and the control group was selected from consecutive 50 autopsies with known cause of death other than drowning and those without severe head injury or head and neck malignancy. The jugum sphenoidale was removed and the fluid present in the sinuses was withdrawn by a needle bearing syringe and measured. Qualitative data was analysed using proportions and Chi-square test, while quantitative data was analysed using means, standard déviations and t-Test using SPSS-16.0.
Detectable quantity of fluid were seen in 43 cases (86%) among 50 drowning victims. 6 out of 7 (85.7%) drowning victims with absent fluid in the sphenoid sinuses were children less than 6 years.
The study revealed that detection of fluid in the sphenoid sinuses can be used as a diagnostic sign for death by drowning.
Drowning, Medium, Sphenoidal air sinuses, Svechnikov's sign
