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Philemon and Baucis deaths: case reports and postmortem biochemistry contribution.

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Lardi, Christelle Schmit, Grégory [UCL] Burkhardt, Sandra Mangin, Patrice Palmiere, Cristian

The death of a person as a reaction to the death of another is known as Philemon and Baucis death and may represent a difficult challenge for pathologists, especially due to the decompositional changes that often characterized these situations. In this article, we describe two cases of Philemon and Baucis deaths, the first concerning a married couple and the second concerning a father and son. Postmortem investigations including radiology and biochemistry were performed. Based on the results of all investigations, deaths were attributed to natural causes. Third-party involvement could be excluded in both situations. In one case, biochemical analysis results revealed potentially contributing causes of death. The reported cases emphasize the importance of correlating findings from different postmortem investigations to identify causes of death, precipitating conditions and predisposing disorders, thus allowing the conclusion of natural death to be reached and third-party involvement to be excluded.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès libre
Publication date 2014
Language Anglais
Journal information "Journal of Forensic Sciences" - Vol. 59, no. 4, p. 1133-1138 (2014)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Blackwell Pub. ((United States) Malden, MA)
issn 0022-1198
e-issn 1556-4029
Publication status Publié
Affiliation UCL - (SLuc) Service d'anatomie pathologique
Keywords 3-beta-hydroxybutyrate ; Autopsy ; Forensic sciences ; Ketoacidosis ; Pericardial fluid ; Postmortem biochemistry ; Vitreous humor
Links
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Bibliographic reference Lardi, Christelle ; Schmit, Grégory ; Burkhardt, Sandra ; Mangin, Patrice ; Palmiere, Cristian. Philemon and Baucis deaths: case reports and postmortem biochemistry contribution.. In: Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 59, no. 4, p. 1133-1138 (2014)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/151731