Studies on the estimation of the postmortem interval. 2. The postmortem lividity (author's transl)

Abstract

The authors have investigated the relationship between the postmortem interval and the postmortem lividity of 430 persons who had died at known times and had been subjected to medico-legal autopsies. 1) For determining the postmortem interval from the postmortem lividity, the examination of the fading of the lividity upon pressure is most reliable. Among various methods of pressing, the pressing by means of a narrow side-edge of a hard instrument such as a pincette offers more accurate results than those by means of the fingerpressure which is commonly adopted in the present medico-legal practice. 2) The rate of nonfading is higher in summer among the cadavers within 6-12 hours after death, while over 12 hours it does not show any seasonal variation. Considering the influence of the cause of death, death by asphyxia and death by intracranial injuries show lower nonfading rate than death by exsanguination and natural death. These differences are observed merely within 24 hours after death. 3) Nonfading occupies one-third of cases during 6-12 hours after death and exceeds a half during 12-24 hours and exceeds two-thirds during 1-3 days and occupies almost all cases over 3 days. Namely, complete fading is observed within 3 days after death.