Milz

Spleen findings in drowning

“…According to Stutte [9], the spleen weight post mortem represents -0.2-0.3% of the body weight, so the authors' comparison group, comprising cases of asphyxiati on due to causes other than drowning, would appear to be almost normal in this respect. There were only six instances ( -14%) in which the spleen weight was under the lowf~r limit.…”

“…The spleen in man is an organ that is more involved in metabolism, unlike in most animals, where it has an important storage function. It therefore has very few contractile elements in the capsule and trabeculae in man [9], and, depending on the number of these elements, wh ich va ries from individual to individual, may react only to very intense stimulation. Predominance of the neural over the humoral influences [17) could explain why adrenalin levels after death by asphyxiation were not found to be higher than after other acute causes of death with a prolonged agonal phase and without characteristic spleen findings [18][19][20].…”