[Forensic medical assessment of hemorrhages in hyaline cartilages of the larynx]. / Sudebno-meditsinskaia otsenka krovoizliianii v gialinovye khriashchi gortani.

ABSTRACT

The diagnostic value of hemorrhages to hyaline cartilages of the larynx (CL), which is a sign of a trauma in the neck, were investigated. The application of term "hemorrhage" in respect to foci of reddish (brownish) coloring of the CL tissue was shown to be not always justifiable. Thus, genuine hemorrhages to the CL tissue are not altogether possible in children and teenagers owing to the original avascularity of their hyaline cartilage tissue; as for women, they are possible only in the dorsal CL sections. The reddish coloring results often from the imbibition of the CL tissue by hemoglobin at the places of contact of the cartilage surface with blood. Such false "hemorrhages" can occur not only in trauma but also in nonviolent death and also as artifacts of sectional examinations. It was established experimentally that 10 to 12 minutes are sufficient for postmortal hemorrhage to set on. The differential diagnosis should be made with due respect to the anatomic-and-physiological peculiarities of the dead and by applying the hyaline method.