Quantitative Characterization of Diagnostic Significance of Drowning Signs According to Retrospective Analysis of Drowning Cases

Aims: Assessment of the diagnostic significance of morphological signs of drowning based on the study of their frequency of occurrence and statistical probability according to the archival data of the Moscow Region Medical Examination Bureau for 2017-2019. Materials and methods: Retrospective analysis of archival data of sectional, histological, algological and forensic chemical studies of drowning cases. Registration of outcomes was carried out by creating a Microsoft Excel database. Statistical analysis of data was carried out in IBM SPSS version 26.0. Results: Of the total number of drowned people (179), 81% were male, Me age = 42 (29–57) years. Alcohol was detected in the blood and urine of 69.8% of the deceased. The most common (≥50%) diagnostic signs of drowning were: Rasskazov-Lukomsky-Paltauf spots (89.9%), Sveshnikov's sign (84.4%), foam in the lumen of the trachea and bronchi (75.4%), "wet swelling of the lungs" (87.2%) and pulmonary edema (57.5%), rib imprints on the surface of the lungs (53.6%), pseudoplankton in the contents of the sphenoid sinus (76.0%) and the cavity of the left ventricle (68.2%) in combination with general asphyxial signs. The differences between the frequency of occurrence of diagnostic signs of drowning, lung mass and the degree of alcohol intoxication are statistically insignificant. Based on the rating of the frequency of occurrence of signs of drowning, a pilot project of a computer program for assessing the probability of drowning was developed. Conclusions: Only a comprehensive approach, cumulative assessment of signs, provided that they are correctly interpreted, can form an evidence base for expert conclusions on the cause of death of persons recovered from the water.