Autopsy Problems Associated With Postmortem Ant Activity

Byard, Roger W.

doi:10.1385/fsmp:1:1:037

Cited by 31 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Among these, 7 were case reports [13][14][15][16][17][18][19], 3 case series [6,20,21], 19 original articles [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40], 4 were technical notes [41][42][43][44] and 8 were reviews [1,10,[45][46][47][48][49][50].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, the post-mortem body alterations can cause modifications of the real ante-mortem wounds (i.e. pattern, size, shape), with loss of identifying features and damage or removal of internal organs [36].…”

Section: Entomological Body Artefactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their feeding pattern is confined and characterised by multifocal areas of skin loss with small linear trails bordering the primary erosion points. The resultant thinning of the epidermis leads to an increased fluid loss with the development of irregular, serpiginous and scalloped areas of superficial skin loss known as Bparchmenting^ [36]. In addition, small punctate and scratch-type lesions may be observed on the body [45].…”

Section: Antsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crime scene and body alterations caused by arthropods: implications in death investigation

et al. 2018

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The activity of arthropods on corpses has been largely investigated, since they can produce information to reconstruct the perimortem events. However, the feeding/movement activity of insects around the crime scene, among the clothes and on the body, can also cause some alterations that can lead to wrong reconstruction and misinterpretations. This article summarises all the postmortem arthropods artefacts related to the scene (i.e. fly artefacts and floor stripes) and the body (i.e. skin and other soft tissue alterations, bone alterations and hair alterations) that can mislead the forensic pathologist, discussing macroscopic and microscopic findings derived from forensic casework and from experimental laboratory studies, in order to provide a useful instrument to avoid misinterpretations and evaluation errors. Finally, some procedural notes for the documentation and the interpretation of findings are proposed.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Entomological Body Artefactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Antsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Crime scene and body alterations caused by arthropods: implications in death investigation

et al. 2018

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“…These changes are more likely to be encountered if bodies have been deliberately concealed or if decedents have been socially isolated resulting in delay in finding of the body [5]. While changes due to bacterial activity are not usually confused with antemortem activity, determining whether the injuries caused by animals, or insects such as ants, are ante-or post mortem may be difficult [6].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual patterned skin lesions caused by postmortem fungal activity

Byard

2014

Forensic Sci Med Pathol

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A 28-year-old male who had been missing for 14 days was found deceased lying under a tree. His past history included insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, a borderline personality disorder, paranoid schizophrenia, amphetamine use and previous suicide attempts using inhaled gas and insulin overdose. He had recently been having hypoglycemic fits.At autopsy the body was that of an adult white male of around the stated age of 28 years. Rigor mortis was absent and early changes of decomposition were present with skin slippage and focal green putrefactive discoloration. Small fly larvae were present over the neck and face without pupal cases. An unusual feature consisted of multiple irregularly circular to oval discolored lesions over the left upper arm and left side of the chest (Fig. 1), as well as on the right forearm. These measured approximately 15-50 mm in diameter and were dark in color. Sectioning revealed no associated interstitial hemorrhage (Fig. 2). Internal examination demonstrated scattered Wischnewski ulcers of the stomach (superficial erosive gastritis) in keeping with hypothermia, and bilateral cortical pallor of the kidneys which was shown histologically to be due to basal epithelial cell vacuolization with surrounding formalin pigment deposition. There were no other significant findings and toxicology demonstrated only a therapeutic level of risperidone. No vitreous humor was available due to changes of decomposition, although a urine dipstick test showed a moderate amount of ketones and glucose. Death was therefore attributed to hypothermia complicating diabetes mellitus. Histological examination of the circular skin lesions revealed numerous predominantly superficial linear fungal organisms (Figs. 3, 4) that were shown on culture to be Mucor hiemalis, with no evidence of dermal hemorrhage or vital reaction. DiscussionThe assessment of apparent skin injuries at the time of autopsy is often crucial in determining the nature of possible trauma, the forces involved and whether there are any impressions that may indicate the type of weapon that has been used or the surface against which the body has impacted [1]. The most useful information often derives from injuries that show a particular pattern. Unfortunately cases occur where traumatic lesions are mimicked by other entities. An example of this reported previously in the journal was a case of metastatic carcinoma of the breast which had created skin lesions that closely resembled the typical targetoid lesions that occur with electrocution [2].Changes of decomposition, involving both autolysis and putrefaction, also result in a variety of alterations to the skin and soft tissues which may complicate the identification and evaluation of injuries [3]. While the stages have been clearly delineated there is considerable variation in the time course that is influenced by a range of factors [4]. The body and its tissues may also be considerably changed after death by the activity of organisms that range from microscopic bacteria to large animals. These chan...

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“…Such injuries may confuse pathologists in terms of the nature and chronology of the injury, due to similarities with the antemortem injuries (Denic et al, 1997;Roger et al, 2002;Campobasso et al, 2009). Postmortem injuries caused by Formicidae (Hymenoptera) have been extensively recorded (Byard, 2005;Campobasso et al, 2009); however, reports concerning lesions caused by Vespidae are rarely seen in a forensic context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Record of postmortem injuries caused by the Neotropical social wasp Agelaia fulvofasciata (Degeer) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) on pig carcasses in the Eastern Amazon region: implications in forensic taphonomy

Barbosa

Carriço

Souto

et al. 2015

Revista Brasileira de Entomologia

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RBE 45 1-3 Revista Brasileira de Entomologia xxx (2015) xxx-xxx w w w . r b e n t o m o l o g i a . c o m a b s t r a c tPostmortem injuries are a source of misinterpretations in forensic analysis and therefore are subject matter of taphonomic interest. Many types of injuries can cause different artifacts, which deserve attention of the forensic pathologists when evaluating corpses, either at the crime scene or during an autopsy. Insects can be important biotaphonomic agents and their activity may result in artifacts that resemble antemortem injuries. Here, we describe postmortem injuries caused by the Neotropical wasp Agelaia fulvofasciata (Degeer, 1773) on domestic pig carcasses weighting 15 kg. The specimens showed extensive injuries to the lower lip, similar to lacerations, and some minor lesions on the snout and anus. In addition, we observed the same wasp species preying on larvae of Sarcophagidae (Peckia sp.). Besides causing postmortem injuries, the ability of this species to detect carcasses in the early and fresh decomposition stages should be noted. Thus, future applications aiming criminal, any biotaphonomic events caused by carrion insects need to be disclosed.

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Autopsy Problems Associated With Postmortem Ant Activity

Cited by 31 publications

References 4 publications

Crime scene and body alterations caused by arthropods: implications in death investigation

Crime scene and body alterations caused by arthropods: implications in death investigation

Unusual patterned skin lesions caused by postmortem fungal activity

Record of postmortem injuries caused by the Neotropical social wasp Agelaia fulvofasciata (Degeer) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) on pig carcasses in the Eastern Amazon region: implications in forensic taphonomy

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