Carson Henry J
Linn County Medical Examiners Office, 930 1st Street SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404, USA.
J Forensic Sci. 2010 Nov;55(6):1534-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01490.x.
We investigated how ecchymoses could be used to predict other injuries, or help establish the cause of death. Ecchymoses, fractures, lacerations, abrasions, and other data were recorded. Eleven percent of decedents had ecchymoses. Motor vehicle accident by car (MVA-C) was the most common cause of ecchymoses and showed the most collateral injuries. Decedents of natural causes were more likely to have ecchymoses without collateral injuries. There appeared to be two groups of decedents with ecchymoses: one group is younger, comprised of victims of MVA-C and homicides, with more injuries related to ecchymoses than others; another is an older group of victims of other accidents, natural causes, and suicide. There were no indeterminate causes of death among decedents with ecchymoses. Therefore, ecchymoses may be a surrogate marker to direct the pathologist to continue to seek a cause of death should be seen, even if the case, otherwise, appears to be indeterminate.
我们研究了瘀斑如何用于预测其他损伤，或帮助确定死因。记录了瘀斑、骨折、撕裂伤、擦伤及其他数据。11%的死者有瘀斑。汽车交通事故（MVA-C）是瘀斑最常见的原因，且伴有最多的并发损伤。自然死亡的死者更有可能出现无并发损伤的瘀斑。出现瘀斑的死者似乎分为两组：一组较年轻，由汽车交通事故和凶杀案受害者组成，与瘀斑相关的损伤比其他组更多；另一组是年龄较大的其他事故、自然死亡和自杀的受害者。有瘀斑的死者中不存在死因不明的情况。因此，瘀斑可能是一种替代标志物，即使在其他情况下死因似乎不明，若发现有瘀斑，也可指导病理学家继续寻找死因。
