Unexpected death in elephantiasis due to an abnormal life-style

• Hiroaki Sato ^[1] ; Toshiko Tanaka ^[1] ; Kentaro Kasai ^[1] ; Toshiro Kita ^[1] ; Noriyuki Tanaka ^[1]
  1. [1] Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, University ofOccupational and Environmental Health-Japan
• Localización: Journal of forensic sciences, ISSN-e 1556-4029, ISSN 0022-1198, Vol. 54, Nº. 6, 2009, págs. 1447-1449
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • A 22-year-old man was found dead after he had continued to sit on a reclining chair for 2 years. He had consumed an unbalanceddiet, kept wearing the same pair of socks and never washed himself for the term. His skin of bilateral crura developed into elephantiasis with severelyfestered ulcers on its surface. At autopsy, subcutaneous edema was significant in his lower limbs, and chronic circulatory disturbance of lymphoductsand veins was observed histologically. There were no crucial findings to account for chronic edema in the lower limbs. It has been reported thatmaintaining a seated posture obstructs both lymphoducts and veins because of bending the groin, decreases their return flow by inducing muscularatrophy, and causes subcutaneous edema in the lower limbs. Oligotrophia and dirt on his limbs might have exacerbated the chronic edema in ele-phantiasis. We concluded that a long-term abnormal life-style had caused fatal elephantiasis