The application of ligature mark obliquity in diagnosis of its etiology

Differentiation between hanging and strangulation has always been a dilemma in the field of forensic medicine.

To compare the relative importance of obliquity of ligature mark to its incompleteness in differentiation of hanging and strangulation.

Autopsy reports of 352 cases arriving at the morgue in Cairo (Zeinhom) from the year 2000 till the year 2009 with reported ligature strangulation or hanging were studied for description of external ligature marks on the neck.

The subjects in the study were 200 males and 152 females with a mean age of 34.2 years. When comparing obliquity of the mark to its incompleteness there was a minimum number of cases reported to have oblique marks (13.3%) and incomplete mark (10%). Z test for comparison indicated a greater importance for the obliquity of the ligature in comparison to whether or not it was complete.

There exists a difference in weight of the separate factors defining the ligature mark and differentiating it in cases of hanging from those of strangulation.