[Determination of the time of death by measurement of rectal temperature of corpses suspended in water]. 1984

C Henssge, and B Brinkmann, and K Püschel

Twenty-nine corpses were subdivided into three groups. Normally from the 3rd h post mortem on, they were suspended undressed in a tub holding 1,000 l in nearly still water of temperatures approximately 20 degrees, 10 degrees and 0 degrees C. The rectal temperature was measured, normally until the 33rd h post mortem. Time of death was calculated by means of the mathematical analytical two-exponential formula suggested by Marshall and Hoare (1962), in the version used by Brown and Marshall (1974). The adapting parameters of the formula were standardized according to the principle of Henssge (1979, 1981) and related to standardization by adjusting factors to body weight stated for standard values of cooling, i.e., undressed corpses in calm air. After termination of the post mortem temperature plateau, it was found that undressed corpses suspended in water of temperatures of approximately 20 degrees and 10 degrees C cool as quickly as undressed corpses of half the body mass in calm air of the same temperatures. As to the duration of the post mortem temperature plateau in water suspension time from the time of death, it may only be indirectly concluded that it is linked to the subsequent speed of cooling in the same way which is well known in the case of air cooling. Statistical standard values are given concerning the differences between the computed and the real times of death. Unexpectedly, the experiments in water at approximately 0 degrees C yielded distinctly slighter temperature which were especially marked at rectal temperatures up to approximately 11 degrees C in corpses of great body mass and small body surface in proportion to and equally, without regard to body mass. As an explanation of this, a decrease in the thermal conductivity of the subcutaneous adipose tissue in connection with a decrease in tissue temperature is discussed.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007101 Immersion The placing of a body or a part thereof into a liquid. Submersion,Immersions,Submersions
D008433 Mathematics The deductive study of shape, quantity, and dependence. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Mathematic
D012007 Rectum The distal segment of the LARGE INTESTINE, between the SIGMOID COLON and the ANAL CANAL. Rectums
D012016 Reference Values The range or frequency distribution of a measurement in a population (of organisms, organs or things) that has not been selected for the presence of disease or abnormality. Normal Range,Normal Values,Reference Ranges,Normal Ranges,Normal Value,Range, Normal,Range, Reference,Ranges, Normal,Ranges, Reference,Reference Range,Reference Value,Value, Normal,Value, Reference,Values, Normal,Values, Reference
D001831 Body Temperature The measure of the level of heat of a human or animal. Organ Temperature,Body Temperatures,Organ Temperatures,Temperature, Body,Temperature, Organ,Temperatures, Body,Temperatures, Organ
D005554 Forensic Medicine The application of medical knowledge to questions of law. Legal Medicine,Medicine, Forensic,Medicine, Legal
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013997 Time Factors Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations. Time Series,Factor, Time,Time Factor

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