Citation

Kubo S, Ogata M, Kitamura O, Tsuda R, Orihara Y, Hirose W, Matsumoto H, Nakasono I. Int. J. Legal Med. 1994; 106(6): 281-284.

Affiliation

Department of Legal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7947333

Abstract

Using immunohistochemical staining, the histological changes and the presence of neuropeptides (enkephalin and VIP) in the carotid body have been investigated in medico-legal autopsy cases, especially asphyxia cases. Only in cases of manual and/or ligature strangulation cases that sustained a force near the carotid body, were the chief cells mainly lightly stained, indicating that they had been "active" cells. Furthermore, these cells and their nuclei were enlarged in comparison to the chief carotid body cells in other autopsy groups. It was thus felt that these changes had resulted from the force that had directly affected the carotid body. Based on these findings, it was concluded that immunohistochemical investigation of the carotid body offers a useful possibility for diagnosing manual asphyxia, especially in autopsy cases involving strangulation.

Language: en