Spots of Lärsche in the evaluation of posthumous changes

When investigating murders, it is very important to establish how long the victim died. Sometimes the success of the investigation depends on this, because with the precise establishment of the moment of death it is possible to determine who could commit the crime, and who has an irrefutable alibi. Therefore, when disclosing crimes against a person's life, there is often a need for forensic research, which will help to find out when the wrongful act was committed. There are a number of signs that allow you to get an answer to this question. One of such signs is Lärsche spots, which will be discussed in this article.

The science of determining the cause of death and the moment of its onset.

What are Lärše spots? Photos of these spots are given in many textbooks of criminology: on this basis experts determine the time of death. However, before we begin to describe this posthumous symptom, we should say a few words about what dying is and what science is studying this process. The field of knowledge devoted to the mysterious phenomenon of the death of a living organism is called thanatology. The section that is within the competence of forensic doctors is judicial thanatology. Thanatology provides answers to questions related to determining the factors that caused death, and also allows you to determine with quite high accuracy when the death of a person occurred.

Posthumous changes and their significance for determining the time of death

Death is not an instantaneous process: even after some time after the death of the organism, certain changes take place in its tissues. This is due to the fact that after the onset of biological death, some tissues continue to function. In addition, under the influence of environmental conditions, the corpse gradually changes: moisture evaporates from the tissues, blood is redistributed under the influence of gravity in the vessels, because of the activity of the bacteria, putrefactive processes occur. Of course, these processes gradually come to naught, but the knowledge of the sequence of changes that occur with the organism makes it possible to establish quite accurately the moment of the onset of the death of the organism.

The main stages of dying

Dying is a process that consists of four stages, which successively replace one another:

- Pre-conditioning state. Violated the function of the brain, the person becomes inhibited, his skin pales, and the pressure drops. This state can last up to several hours.

- Agony. The main systems of organs continue to work: the person breathes, his heart beats. However, the functions of the organs cease to be coordinated. Increases hypoxia, which leads to the death of brain cells. Agony can last up to 5-6 hours, at which time measures can still be taken that will prevent the death of a person.

- Clinical death. The body stops functioning, and a person can be considered dead. However, in some tissues, metabolic processes are still occurring. At the stage of clinical death a person can be brought back to life. Typically, this period lasts up to eight minutes: at the end of this time, even if one can make the heart beat, the functions of the cerebral cortex will be disturbed.

- Biological death. There are irreversible processes, as a result of which any attempts to return a person to life will be futile. Lärše spots are a sign of death, which appears only after the onset of biological death.

Signs of death

The main signs indicating that a person has died are as follows:

- complete immobility;

- marked pallor of the skin, the main cause of which is the stop of blood circulation;

- absence of respiratory activity and contractions of the heart;

- the disappearance of reflexes and reactions to stimuli.

The presence of all the above signs allows us to ascertain the death of a person, although in some circumstances more detailed studies are required. For example, in medicine there is the concept of imaginary death: in this case all life processes are weakened and slowed down to such an extent that a person looks dead. Doctors can erroneously state death, and therefore corpses of people who died in the hospital, sent to the morgue not earlier than two hours after the death. Forensic doctors can also face cases of imaginary death. Such a state can be observed with electric trauma, poisoning, etc. However, there are signs that absolutely accurately indicate the onset of the death of the body. One of these features is Lärše spots.

Early corpse changes and reliable signs of death

There are signs that allow one hundred percent accuracy to determine that a person has died and resuscitation is useless. These symptoms include phenomena that are irreversible and under no circumstances can occur in a living person:

- the drying of the cornea of ​​the eye( Lärše spots appear, which can be seen when the age of the deceased is expanded);

- narrowing of the pupils when squeezing the eyeballs( a symptom of Beloglazov, otherwise called a cat's eye symptom);

- lower body temperature to 20 degrees;

- appearance of cadaveric spots;

- spots of the blood hypostasis: blue and violet spots appear on the pale skin, which become invisible when pressed;

- the emergence of characteristic cadaveric changes, for example rotting, mummification, etc.

As you understand, such changes indicate the onset of biological death and the need to carry out resuscitation.

It is important to note that the changes occur consistently, therefore, when examining the dead body, forensic experts can establish at what point the death of a person occurred. For example, the formation of Lärsche spots indicates that at least five hours have elapsed since the moment of death before the examination.

Creep drying

Immediately after the metabolic processes stop, cadaveric drying begins. Especially quickly the liquid evaporates from the open areas of the body, which leads to a change in the color of the tissues, as well as to their densification. Lärsche spots indicate that the corpse gradually begins to lose moisture. The first cadaveric drying is exposed to skin areas that have been damaged during life, as well as the mucous membranes of the eyes, genitalia, lips and tongue. On the eyeballs, Lärše spots become noticeable, which allow us to ascertain the death of the body, the lips become dense, and the skin on the genital organs begins to resemble the parchment to the touch. The drying process can last until the moisture completely evaporates from the body. In this case, the mummification of the corpse occurs.

What are Lärsce spots?

If immediately after death the eyes of the deceased are not covered for centuries, the moisture begins to evaporate from the surface of the cornea, because it ceases to be wetted by tear fluid. At the same time on the sclera there are specific spots, having a brownish color. They have a triangular shape, the apexes of the triangle are directed toward the outer and inner corners of the eye, and the base is turned towards the iris. The sites undergoing the change look slightly wrinkled and stand out sharply against the background of a shiny cornea. These spots are Lärše spots: the photos show that a few hours after the death the eye begins to look cloudy.

When are the spots appearing?

It's not enough just to determine that the eyes of the deceased have appeared Lärše spots. When these spots form, that's the main question. After all, it is the answer to it that makes it possible to determine the moment of death of a person. It is established that the cornea begins to dry out two or three hours after the death, especially this process becomes noticeable after about five hours.

There are special tables that are used by forensic doctors. These tables provide data on which post-mortem changes occur at a certain time after the death of a person. Using the tables, experts can establish an approximate time of death.

Approximately 12 hours after death, eyeballs become dirty yellow due to the fact that the cornea dries up completely. Naturally, with this, Lärše spots disappear. However, under certain conditions( for example, if the weather is sufficiently dry and windy), signs of moisture evaporation from the cornea become noticeable after an hour and a half. This is due to the fact that in such situations the mucous membranes dry out quickly enough. Therefore, Lärše spots when assessing posthumous changes are a symptom that must be considered in conjunction with the conditions in which the body of the deceased resided. Otherwise, the probability of an erroneous determination of the moment of death is high. If the body was in the room, the spots will appear five hours after death, if on the street - after one hour.

The symptom of the cat's eye

Spots Lärsche, the description of which can be found in this article, is not the only "eye" symptom that allows to state death. Still there is a so-called symptom of Beloglazov. This symptom can be observed about half an hour after the person died.

After tissue loss, elasticity is lost due to rigor mortis. In addition, after the brain dies, the muscle that innervates the pupil ceases to function, and the pressure in the eyeballs drops sharply. Therefore, if you squeeze the eye of the deceased on both sides, the pupil will take an oval shape, resembling the pupil of a cat. If you squeeze the eyeball of a living person, the pupil will not change its rounded shape.

The value of thanatology

Thanatology managed to accumulate a huge amount of data that allows you to accurately determine the time of death, as well as to establish the causes that caused death. This is very important in criminal practice. After all, thanks to forensic experts' studies, it is possible to obtain information that is of great importance for clarifying the identity of the offender.

Thanatology is a science that is necessary not only for forensic pathologists and forensic scientists. Due to the fact that doctors were able to develop precise methods for determining the moment of onset of irreversible death and to study in detail the processes of dying, many people were brought back to life. This applies to patients who have experienced clinical death, infants born without signs of vital activity, etc. After all, before the statement of the fact of the final death of the organism, it is possible to carry out resuscitation measures and save the patient.

Conclusion

The sign that testifies to the recent onset of biological death of a person is Lärše spots. Forensic medicine attaches great importance to this symptom, because with its help you can accurately determine the time of death. If the forensic doctor recorded the presence of spots, then we can say with full confidence that death occurred at least five hours before the examination of the corpse. If the cornea is completely opaque, other postmortem changes should be based.