Ant bite artifacts in a case of hanging.

Autor: Pulagura SSK; Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India., Jadav D; Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India., Meshram VP; Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India., Shekhawat RS; Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India., Kanchan T; Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of forensic sciences [J Forensic Sci] 2024 May; Vol. 69 (3), pp. 1102-1105. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 20.
DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.15494
Abstrakt: Artifacts produced by postmortem animal scavenging are commonly encountered at autopsy. Knowledge of the pattern of artifacts produced by postmortem animal scavenging is essential for the correct interpretation of the autopsy finding. In household deaths, such artifacts are usually caused by domestic animals and by small insects such as flies, ants, beetles, etc. Ants are one of the early scavengers which feed on the dead bodies. The artifacts produced by the postmortem ant activity are usually superficial and non-bleeding type. Rarely, in the congested body regions and areas of marked hypostasis, postmortem bleeding artifacts due to ant bites are possible. In the reported case of hanging, such postmortem bleeding artifacts were present over both the legs, predominantly over the left leg. Typical ant bite lesions in the form of superficial excoriations were also present over the peri-ligature area, over and around both nipples and over the lower part of the abdomen. Morphologically, postmortem bleeding artifacts produced by ant bites exhibit four patterns: droplet pattern, stripe pattern, pool pattern, and mixed pattern. In this case, a mixed pattern (droplet pattern and stripe pattern) of postmortem bleeding artifacts was observed. The presence of postmortem bleeding artifacts over the lower limbs was attributed to the pooling of the blood due to suspension of the body, followed by passive escape of blood due to ant bites. The possibility of such artifacts produced by ant bites should be considered when the origin of the lesion is unclear.
(© 2024 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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