Rothschild M A, Schneider V
Institute of Legal Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
Int J Legal Med. 1995;107(5):250-6. doi: 10.1007/BF01245483.
Between 1978 and 1994, 69 cases of death due to lethal hypothermia were examined in our Institute. In addition to the common findings associated with hypothermia we especially wanted to examine the so-called paradox reaction which refers to the undressing of persons in a state of severe (lethal) hypothermia. This is obviously the result of a peripheral vasodilatation effecting a feeling of warmth. In our material this paradoxical undressing occurred in 25% of the cases and nearly all exhibited an additional phenomenon which has not yet been described in the literature. Nearly all bodies with partial or complete disrobement were found in a position which indicated a final mechanism of protection i.e. under a bed, behind a wardrobe, in a shelf etc.. This is obviously an autonomous process of the brain stem, which is triggered in the final state of hypothermia and produces a primitive and burrowing-like behaviour of protection, as seen in (hibernating) animals. This phenomenon, which we refer to as "terminal burrowing behaviour", occurred predominantly with slow decreases in temperature and moderately cold conditions.
1978年至1994年间，我院对69例致死性体温过低导致的死亡病例进行了检查。除了与体温过低相关的常见发现外，我们特别想研究所谓的反常反应，即处于严重（致死性）体温过低状态的人会自行脱衣。这显然是外周血管扩张导致温暖感的结果。在我们的资料中，这种反常脱衣现象发生在25%的病例中，几乎所有病例还表现出一种尚未在文献中描述过的额外现象。几乎所有部分或完全脱衣的尸体都处于一种表明最终保护机制的位置，即在床下、衣柜后、架子上等。这显然是脑干的一个自主过程，在体温过低的最终状态下触发，并产生一种原始的、类似打洞的保护行为，就像（冬眠的）动物那样。这种现象，我们称之为“末期打洞行为”，主要发生在体温缓慢下降和中等寒冷的情况下。
