[Forensic medical evaluation of pancreatic lesions in cases of lethal hypothermia]

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate changes in the human pancreas in case of lethal hypothermia (LH). Scarce data available from the forensic medical literature give evidence of considerable morphological changes in the pancreas including irregular blood filling with areas of venous hyperemia, focal spasm of arterioles, slowed down autolysis, spasm of pancreatic ducts in the absence of desquamation of their epithelium into the lumen, secretion deposited and visualized in accessory cells. Hepatitis develops despite general hypothermia. Morphological alterations in Langerhans islets and qualitative changes in the relative number of endocrinocytes remain to be assessed more thoroughly.