[Postmortem bruising]

Abstract

While examining body injuries, a very important issue is to ascertain if they were made ante or postmortem. The majority of authors are of the opinion that the presence of bruises is a proof of an antemortem origin of injuries. Nevertheless, the present authors encountered more than a dozen of cases of postmortem origin of bruises, which had occurred as much as several hours after death. All the observed bruises were inflicted during external examination of bodies at the site where they were found, while examining idiomuscular reactions from biceps brachii and quadriceps femoris muscles. During autopsies carried out in the dissecting room, bruises with central ischaemia and transversal course to the long axis of a limb were noted. Following incision of the integument, we found of shiny ecchymosis (suggilation) in the subcutaneous tissue. Histopathology revealed the presence of blood extravasations in the examined tissues.