Citation

Nishitani Y, Okazaki S, Suzuki K, Imabayashi K, Katada R, Matsumoto H. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2009; 30(2): 186-187.

Affiliation

Department of Legal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Japan. nyoko@sapmed.ac.jp

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181879ceb

PMID

19465815

Abstract

Traffic accidents cause unexpectedly severe injuries of internal organs despite tiny injuries observed on the external body. A 51-year-old woman (subject 1) and a 54-year-old man (subject 2) were found dead on a road. Subject 1 had subcutaneous and intramuscular bleeding with décollement on the posterior aspect of her body, including upper cervical spine dislocation. Subject 2 did not exhibit any apparent findings on autopsy that were indicative of a direct injury by a motor vehicle, but had severe internal organ injuries, including the transection at the pontomedullary junction. We surmise that subjects 1 and 2 were walking in line with the vehicle which collided with them from behind, and then the body of subject 1 cushioned the direct impact of the vehicle against subject 2. This report illustrates the need of forensic autopsy for victims with no severe external injuries.

Language: en