[Studies on the estimation of the postmortem interval. 6. The putrefaction (author's transl)]

Abstract

The authors have investigated ten kinds of putrefactive findings on 368 cadavers which were subjected to medico-legal autopsies in our laboratory and have come to the following conclusions. 1) Concerning the occurrence of the putrefactive findings, seasonal variation was not seen on the cadavers which had remained indoors in the Hokkaido districts. No variation due to age and sex was seen. The occurrence of the findings was less frequent in death from exsanguination, traumatic shock and cardiac tamponade. 2) The putrefactive findings can be utilized as a criterion for estimating the postmortem interval; the interval is estimated to be over 6 hours when the pericardial fluid is turbid, over 12 hours when exudation of putrefactive fluid, gas formation, blood-stained peritoneal fluid or blood-stained pericardial fluid is present, over 18 hours when greenish discoloration of the skin, network of the skin or blood staining of the endocardium or the endothelium is seen, over 2 days when bullae is present on the skin, over 5 days when the pericardial cavity is dry, within 6 days when none of them are present.