Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case Report
<b>Background:</b> When the body temperature falls below 35 °C, a condition known as hypothermia occurs. This renders it impossible to regulate the body temperature and produce heat. In these cases, death is due to a cessation of vital functions and is triggered by a body temperature bel...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Forensic Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/4/4/37 |
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| author | Stefano Duma Federica Mele Mariagrazia Calvano Mirko Leonardelli Enrica Macorano Giovanni De Gabriele Alessandro Cristalli Andrea Marzullo Francesco Introna |
| author_facet | Stefano Duma Federica Mele Mariagrazia Calvano Mirko Leonardelli Enrica Macorano Giovanni De Gabriele Alessandro Cristalli Andrea Marzullo Francesco Introna |
| author_sort | Stefano Duma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <b>Background:</b> When the body temperature falls below 35 °C, a condition known as hypothermia occurs. This renders it impossible to regulate the body temperature and produce heat. In these cases, death is due to a cessation of vital functions and is triggered by a body temperature below 25 °C. A multidisciplinary approach is typically required when hypothermia is suspected to combine circumstantial evidence, external examination, autopsy, microscopic and biochemical findings, and other data useful to assess the diagnosis of fatal hypothermia. Post-mortem diagnosis of death by hypothermia frequently presents a medico-legal dilemma. <b>Methods and Results:</b> The authors present a case of hypothermia in which site inspection, autopsy, and histological examination simultaneously revealed the forensic and anatomopathological characteristic findings of hypothermia with some peculiar evidence: paradoxical undressing, thanatochronological phenomena, frost erythema, polyvisceral congestion and Wischnewski spots, and subnuclear vacuolization of renal tubular epithelial cells. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3cf85855fef04a099b5e51d9bb78f9bd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-6756 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forensic Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-3cf85855fef04a099b5e51d9bb78f9bd2024-12-27T14:26:52ZengMDPI AGForensic Sciences2673-67562024-10-014455556510.3390/forensicsci4040037Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case ReportStefano Duma0Federica Mele1Mariagrazia Calvano2Mirko Leonardelli3Enrica Macorano4Giovanni De Gabriele5Alessandro Cristalli6Andrea Marzullo7Francesco Introna8Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Precision and Regenerative Medicine and Ionian Area (DiMePRe-J), Section of Pathology, Aldo Moro University of Bari, 70124 Bari, ItalyDepartment of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Section of Legal Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, 70124 Bari, Italy<b>Background:</b> When the body temperature falls below 35 °C, a condition known as hypothermia occurs. This renders it impossible to regulate the body temperature and produce heat. In these cases, death is due to a cessation of vital functions and is triggered by a body temperature below 25 °C. A multidisciplinary approach is typically required when hypothermia is suspected to combine circumstantial evidence, external examination, autopsy, microscopic and biochemical findings, and other data useful to assess the diagnosis of fatal hypothermia. Post-mortem diagnosis of death by hypothermia frequently presents a medico-legal dilemma. <b>Methods and Results:</b> The authors present a case of hypothermia in which site inspection, autopsy, and histological examination simultaneously revealed the forensic and anatomopathological characteristic findings of hypothermia with some peculiar evidence: paradoxical undressing, thanatochronological phenomena, frost erythema, polyvisceral congestion and Wischnewski spots, and subnuclear vacuolization of renal tubular epithelial cells.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/4/4/37frostbite deathparadoxical undressingfrost erythemaWischnewski spotrenal tubular vacuolization |
| spellingShingle | Stefano Duma Federica Mele Mariagrazia Calvano Mirko Leonardelli Enrica Macorano Giovanni De Gabriele Alessandro Cristalli Andrea Marzullo Francesco Introna Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case Report Forensic Sciences frostbite death paradoxical undressing frost erythema Wischnewski spot renal tubular vacuolization |
| title | Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case Report |
| title_full | Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case Report |
| title_fullStr | Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case Report |
| title_full_unstemmed | Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case Report |
| title_short | Death by Frostbite: From Theory to Reality: A Case Report |
| title_sort | death by frostbite from theory to reality a case report |
| topic | frostbite death paradoxical undressing frost erythema Wischnewski spot renal tubular vacuolization |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6756/4/4/37 |
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