Abstract:
Lethal accidents caused by lightning are divided into observed and unobserved events. Pathognomonic or characteristic findings are often overlooked during external postmortem examination. Classical mistakes may be made which may often lead to an incorrect diagnosis. An analysis of 270 fatalities was performed on a historical collection of the Committee for Lightning Conductor Construction for the United Economic Area e. V. (ABBW) on lethal accidents due to lightning that occurred in Germany for the period 1951-1965. Furthermore, a selective literature research was carried out. The aim of the study was to analyze the death scene, the clothing, and the victim. The authors focused on chief findings which were relevant to the correct diagnosis of \"death by lightning.\" Both Lichtenberg figures and singed body hair were considered pathognomonic for a lightning strike. The question arose as to whether Lichtenberg figures, for example, represented the finding that most often led to the correct diagnosis. Of the 270 lightning-struck victims from the case collection, 129 (47.8%) had singed body hair and 25 (9.3%) had Lichtenberg figures. A comparison of the frequency of the two reported findings, singed body hair versus Lichtenberg figures, has only been performed in the literature for case numbers below 40. This study is the first evaluation of a relatively large number of lethal accidents due to lightning. Singed body hair was reported more frequently in lightning-struck victims than Lichtenberg figures. This study showed that singed body hair is probably more diagnostically important than Lichtenberg figures.
摘要:
由闪电引起的死亡事故分为观察事件和未观察事件。在外部验尸过程中,通常会忽略病因学或特征性发现。可能会出现典型的错误,这通常会导致错误的诊断。对美国经济区e.V.(ABBW)的闪电导体建设委员会的历史收藏进行了270人死亡的分析,涉及1951-1965年期间在德国发生的闪电致命事故。此外,进行了选择性的文献研究。这项研究的目的是分析死亡现场,衣服,还有受害者.作者集中研究了与正确诊断“闪电死亡”相关的主要发现。“Lichtenberg人物和烧焦的体毛都被认为是雷击的代名词。问题是利希滕贝格是否有数字,例如,代表了最经常导致正确诊断的发现。在案件收集的270名闪电受害者中,129(47.8%)的头发被烧焦,25(9.3%)的头发被Lichtenberg数字。两个报告发现的频率的比较,烧焦的体毛与利希滕贝格的人物,仅在文献中对病例数低于40的病例进行了研究。这项研究是对闪电造成的大量致命事故的首次评估。据报道,与Lichtenberg的数字相比,雷击受害者中的尸体毛发更加频繁。这项研究表明,烧焦的体毛可能比Lichtenberg的数字在诊断上更重要。