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Community Forum · Est. 2006
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#1
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01-14-2021, 04:45 AM
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Electrically-induced Heat Amputation of the Hand Caused by a Faulty Table Lamp
May, 1970 - Berlin, Germany. The fully-clothed body of a 51-year-old female was discovered by her son in an apartment in Berlin, Germany. The deceased was found still holding a medium-sized bronze table lamp in her left hand and a smaller reading lamp in her right hand. Both lamps were plugged into a double socket located on one of the walls and were firmly grasped in front of her body. Her son reported that the last time he had seen his mother alive was at her workplace a day before. Forensic examination by the police revealed that the bronze table lamp had a technical fault. According to the son the lamp had been taken for repair around Christmas, 1969. There was almost complete separation of the right hand at the wrist caused by electrically-generated heat. A narrow strip of skin was the only connecting bridge between the right hand and forearm. There was a large amount of skin slippage and blistering of the left and right upper arms, the right forearm, and the backs of both hands. The palmar skin showed partial green discoloration. There was further skin slippage in the superolateral quadrant of the right chest; the underlying pectoral musculature on the right side was markedly paler than the remaining musculature. Edema of the brain and of the lungs was evident. The heart musculature was flaccid. Small bruises were evident below the jugular fossa. The coronary arteries show slight calcifications and evidence of moderate general arteriosclerosis. The uterus showed evidence of small myoma nodules. These findings, in connection with the scene findings and background research conducted by the police, point to death caused by electric shock. There were no gross pathological findings of the internal organs which may suggest an illness-related death. The autopsy did not reveal any evidence of applied mechanical physical force by an external individual. Final cause of death is electric shock. The museum specimen number 145 CBF consists of the right hand and distal section of the right forearm. The specimen is linked to autopsy number 217/1970 and is part of the non-public section of the forensic specimen collection of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Berlin. The skin discoloration and electric burn marks around the amputation sites can be clearly seen in Fig. 1. Although the specimen was mounted over 43 years ago it still retains some of the detailed coloration of the skin and subcutaneous fatty tissue. The electrical burn marks are also visible. The specimen was embedded in a special colorpreserving gelatin called ‘‘Schwerigal.’’ ‘‘Schwerigal’’ was invented in the 1960s and has since been superseded by other museum specimen technology. OP: Some of the text has been shortened and simplified, and reorganized for online view. The images have been upscaled and sharpened. From the Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology journal - N. Widulin, R. Gapert. |
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#2
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01-14-2021, 06:16 AM
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Re: Electrically-induced Heat Amputation of the Hand Caused by a Faulty Table Lamp
Continued thanks for all your cool + interesting threads. Hope you stick around.
__________________ "I'd give the world for the chance just to see your face again. Still I pretend that you're still standing by." |
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#8
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05-07-2021, 12:10 AM
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Re: Electrically-induced Heat Amputation of the Hand Caused by a Faulty Table Lamp
So the wrist burned through like a too-thin wire wow she was the lamp for a bit I bet but I'd doubt her son would give a glowing review of that repair shop
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