Air embolism (AE) is considered a rare event and can be either iatrogenic or traumatic. Various post-mortem methods to detect AE exist, of which radiology is preferred. The presence of air in the heart can be demonstrated using special dissection techniques where the heart is opened under water or by needle puncture from a water-filled syringe. Three cases of blunt-force head injury are presented herein, with AE being diagnosed by conventional radiography using a Lodox Statscan® full-body digital X-ray machine in all cases. This case series demonstrates that AE due to blunt-force trauma to the head and sinuses might be under-recognised in the forensic post-mortem setting. It also highlights the importance of radiology in diagnosing AE post-mortem, especially where the results of post-mortem techniques might be unsatisfactory.
Murder-suicide, homicide-suicide, and dyadic death all refer to an incident where a homicide is committed followed by the perpetrator's suicide almost immediately or soon after the homicide. Homicide-suicides are relatively uncommon and vary from region to region. In the selected literature that we reviewed, shooting was the common method of killing and suicide, and only 3 cases of homicidal hanging involving child victims were identified. We present a case of dyadic death where the method of killing and suicide was hanging, and the victim was a young woman.
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