Variations In Lung Weight as An Indicator in Drowning Deaths
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63682/jns.v14i8S.3736Keywords:
Autopsy, drowning, socio-demographic profile, organ weightsAbstract
Introduction: Drowning is a form of asphyxial death where air enters the lungs due to submersion of the mouth and nostrils into water or fluid medium. It is a leading cause of unintentional deaths, particularly in rivers and canals. The chances of drowning increase with time spent near water bodies and the distance of water bodies from the person's residence.
Objectives: To determine effect of drowning on the weight of lungs.
Methods: Data was collected from drowning cases of adult population which met our inclusion criteria from 1 Jan 2021 to 30 June 2022. Total number of cases are 54.
Result: Average weight of four studies on normal organ weight at autopsy it was found that there was a increase of 4.78% and 10.8% in weight of right and left lung respectively in males. In females there was increase of 11.5% in weight of right lung and 18.72% increase in weight of left lung.
Conclusion: Weight of lungs increased in cases of drowning
Downloads
Metrics
References
Armstrong EJ, Erskine KL. Investigation of Drowning Deaths: A Practical Review. Acad Forensic Pathol. 2018 Mar;8(1):8–43.
Peden AE, Franklin RC, Leggat PA. Fatal river drowning: the identification of research gaps through a systematic literature review. Inj Prev J Int Soc Child Adolesc Inj Prev. 2016 Jun;22(3):202–9.
Handley AJ. Drowning. BMJ. 2014 Apr 16;348:1734–40.
Gorea R. Prevention of Drowning and its Societal Implications. J Indian Acad Forensic Med 2005 274 240 ISSN 0971. 2005 Jan 1;27:240–5.
Bierens JJLM, Lunetta P, Tipton M, Warner DS. Physiology Of Drowning: A Review. Physiol Bethesda Md. 2016 Mar;31(2):147–66.
Vaibhav V, Meshram R, Shukla P, Kalonia T, Bhute A. A Preliminary Study of Organ Weight After Histological Exclusion of Abnormality During Autopsy in the Adult Population of Uttarakhand, India. Cureus. 2022 Jul 19;14:245–51.
Singh D, Bansal Y, Sreenivas M, Pandey AN, Tyagi S. Weights of human organs at autopsy in chandigarh zone of north-west india. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2004 Jul 1;26(3):97–9.
Autopsy Study of Organ Weights in a Tertiary Care Centre in Kerala. Indian J Forensic Med Toxicol. 2021 Apr 13;1123–30.
Molina DK, DiMaio VJM. Normal organ weights in men: part II-the brain, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2012 Dec;33(4):368–72.
Molina DK, DiMaio VJM. Normal Organ Weights in Women: Part II-The Brain, Lungs, Liver, Spleen, and Kidneys. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2015 Sep;36(3):182–7.
An assessment of lung weights in drowning cases. The Metro Dade County experience from 1978 to 1982. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1985 Dec;6(4):301–4.
Kringsholm B, Filskov A, Kock K. Autopsied cases of drowning in Denmark 1987-1989. Forensic Sci Int. 1991 Dec;52(1):85–92.
Morild I. Pleural effusion in drowning. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1995 Sep;16(3):253–6.
Hadley JA, Fowler DR. Organ weight effects of drowning and asphyxiation on the lungs, liver, brain, heart, kidneys, and spleen. Forensic Sci Int. 2003 Nov 26;137(2–3):239–46.
Chen JH, Quan L, Ishikawa T, Michiue T, Wang Q, Zhu BL, et al. Postmortem lung weight with regard to survival time. Leg Med Tokyo Jpn. 2009 Apr;11 Suppl 1:238–40.
Chidanand C, Satish K. Study of Incidence of Middle Ear Hemorrhage in Drowning. J Evid Based Med Healthc. 2015 Feb 1;2(6):621–8.
Rubio L, Cazorla F, Gaitán M, Ramos V, Santos I. Influence of postmortem findings on lung weight of drowning victims. Romanian J Leg Med. 2014 Jun 2;22:89–96.
Tse R, Garland J, Kesha K, Morrow P, Lam L, Elstub H, et al. The Potential Diagnostic Accuracy of Autopsy Lung Weights, Lung-Heart Ratio, and Lung-Body Ratio in Drowning Deaths. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2018 Sep;39(3):223–8.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
Terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.