Estimation of the post-mortem interval; added value of mechanical excitability of human skeletal muscle

H Stigter*, T Krap, W L J M Duijst

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Estimation of the post-mortem interval (PMI) is mainly based on the state of body cooling, post-mortem lividity (livor mortis) and post-mortem muscle stiffness (rigor mortis). However, the time span of development of these post-mortem phenomena are influenced by a variety of factors concerning the body of the deceased and the environment in which the body is found. Subsequently, this leads to a substantial spread in upper and lower limits of PMI based on determination of the state of these phenomena. Moreover, interpretation of post-mortem phenomena like lividity, rigor and interpretation of the correction factor for Henssge's nomogram is subjective. For this reason, PMI estimations are often broad, possibly too broad to be helpful for answering questions which are relevant for the criminal investigation. Therefore, combining the outcome of different methods for estimating the PMI, the so-called compound method, is recommended. Supravital muscle reaction by mechanical stimulation of skeletal muscle is a less known aspect of the compound method. Here we present a series of cases series in which supravital muscle reaction contributed to a more precise estimation of the PMI.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102664
Pages (from-to)1-6
JournalJournal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Volume103
Early online date14 Mar 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 14 Mar 2024

Keywords

  • compound method
  • mechanical excitability
  • post-mortem interval
  • skeletal muscle

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