Tod durch Blitzschlag

Püschel, Klaus; Kalka, Regine; Schulz, F.; Zack, F.

doi:10.1007/s00194-009-0587-2

Cited by 11 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 3 publications

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“…If one is interested, any doctor and any other person can research whether cloudto-earth lightnings have been registered for an explicit time and location. So far, this service has helped to classify unexplained deaths correctly and to provide scientific research with specific data on the times, locations, and amperages of the detected lightning strikes [22,24,[26][27][28]. For example, with the help of the US National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) (Table 4), it was demonstrated that a cyclist's acute cardiac arrest, which occurred under cloudless skies, was due to a lightning strike occurring 10 miles (16 km) from the associated thunderstorm cell ("bolt from the blue") [11].…”

Section: Technical Support For An Accurate Diagnosismentioning

confidence: 99%

A 15-year review of lightning deaths in Germany—with a focus on pathognomonic findings

Bingert,

Bremer,

Büttner

et al. 2024

Int J Legal Med

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Lethal accidents caused by lightning are divided into observed and unobserved events. Pathognomonic or characteristic findings are often overlooked during external postmortem examination. Classical mistakes may be made which may often lead to an incorrect diagnosis. An analysis of 270 fatalities was performed on a historical collection of the Committee for Lightning Conductor Construction for the United Economic Area e. V. (ABBW) on lethal accidents due to lightning that occurred in Germany for the period 1951–1965. Furthermore, a selective literature research was carried out. The aim of the study was to analyze the death scene, the clothing, and the victim. The authors focused on chief findings which were relevant to the correct diagnosis of “death by lightning.” Both Lichtenberg figures and singed body hair were considered pathognomonic for a lightning strike. The question arose as to whether Lichtenberg figures, for example, represented the finding that most often led to the correct diagnosis. Of the 270 lightning-struck victims from the case collection, 129 (47.8%) had singed body hair and 25 (9.3%) had Lichtenberg figures. A comparison of the frequency of the two reported findings, singed body hair versus Lichtenberg figures, has only been performed in the literature for case numbers below 40. This study is the first evaluation of a relatively large number of lethal accidents due to lightning. Singed body hair was reported more frequently in lightning-struck victims than Lichtenberg figures. This study showed that singed body hair is probably more diagnostically important than Lichtenberg figures.

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