Korean J Leg Med.  2007 May;31(1):72-77.

A Study of Weight Ratio of Lung to the Spleen for the Diagnostic Index of Drowning

• Oh JB
• Cha EJ
• Park JW
• Chung IJ
• Kim YS
• Lee HY
• Lee H

Abstract

The diagnosis of drowning is one of the most difficult in forensic pathology. One of the most common autopsy findings in drowning cases is a heavy, edematous lung as the result of water that is aspirated into the lungs before death. There are several controversial findings and arguments about the lung weight as a marker of drowning. The aim of the present study is to examine the difference in the lungs to the spleen weight ratio between seawater and freshwater drowning, compared with asphyxiation and acute cardiac death. This study compared the weight ratio of the lungs to the spleen for 29 cases of drowning (24 males, 5 females), 30 cases of mechanical asphyxiation (16 males, 14 females), and 37 cases of acute cardiac death (30 males, 7 females). This study presented significant differences in the lungs to the spleen weight ratio between drowning and the other causes of death . Therefore, these findings suggest that the ratio may be a useful index for accurate diagnosis of death by drowning.

Keyword

Drowning; Edematous lung; Spleen

MeSH Terms

Autopsy
Cause of Death
Death
Diagnosis
Drowning*
Forensic Pathology
Fresh Water
Humans
Lung*
Male
Seawater
Spleen*
Water
Water