尸检时通常会遇到死后动物清除产生的文物。了解死后动物清除产生的伪影模式对于正确解释尸检结果至关重要。在家庭死亡中,这些文物通常是由家畜和苍蝇等小昆虫引起的,蚂蚁,甲虫,等。蚂蚁是以尸体为食的早期食腐动物之一。死后蚂蚁活动产生的伪影通常是浅表和非出血类型。很少,在充血的身体区域和明显的低姿势区域,由于蚂蚁叮咬而导致的死后出血伪影是可能的。在报告的绞刑案例中,这种死后出血的文物出现在两条腿上,主要是左腿。结扎区也存在浅表划伤形式的典型蚂蚁咬伤病变,在两个乳头周围和腹部下部。形态学上,蚂蚁叮咬产生的死后出血伪影表现出四种模式:液滴模式,条纹图案,泳池模式,和混合模式。在这种情况下,观察到死后出血伪影的混合模式(液滴模式和条纹模式)。下肢上存在死后出血伪影归因于由于身体悬浮而导致的血液积聚,然后是蚂蚁咬伤导致的被动血液逸出。当病变的起源不清楚时,应考虑蚂蚁叮咬产生此类伪影的可能性。
Artifacts produced by postmortem animal scavenging are commonly encountered at autopsy. Knowledge of the pattern of artifacts produced by postmortem animal scavenging is essential for the correct interpretation of the autopsy finding. In household deaths, such artifacts are usually caused by domestic animals and by small insects such as flies,
ants, beetles, etc.
Ants are one of the early scavengers which feed on the dead bodies. The artifacts produced by the postmortem ant activity are usually superficial and non-bleeding type. Rarely, in the congested body regions and areas of marked hypostasis, postmortem bleeding artifacts due to ant bites are possible. In the reported
case of hanging, such postmortem bleeding artifacts were present over both the legs, predominantly over the left leg. Typical ant bite lesions in the form of superficial excoriations were also present over the peri-ligature area, over and around both nipples and over the lower part of the abdomen. Morphologically, postmortem bleeding artifacts produced by ant bites exhibit four patterns: droplet pattern, stripe pattern, pool pattern, and mixed pattern. In this
case, a mixed pattern (droplet pattern and stripe pattern) of postmortem bleeding artifacts was observed. The presence of postmortem bleeding artifacts over the lower limbs was attributed to the pooling of the blood due to suspension of the body, followed by passive escape of blood due to ant bites. The possibility of such artifacts produced by ant bites should be considered when the origin of the lesion is unclear.