Spots of Lärsche in assessing 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 a forensic medical study that will allow you to find out when the wrongful act was committed. There are a number of features that allow you to get an answer to this question. One of these features 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: according to this feature, 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 us to determine with quite high accuracy when the death of a person has 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 body allows us to accurately determine 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 that 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.

- The 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 in 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: after this time, even if you can make the heart beat, the functions of the cortex will be broken.

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

Signs of death

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

- complete immobility;

- pronounced 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. To one of these signs are Lärše spots.

Early changes in the corpse 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 signs include phenomena that are irreversible and under no circumstances can occur in a living person:

- Drying of the cornea of the eye (there are Lärše spots, which can be noticed 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);

- lowering body temperature to 20 degrees;

Appearance of cadaveric spots;

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

- the appearance of characteristic cadaveric changes, for example decay, mummification, etc.

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

It is important to note that the changes occur consistently, therefore, when examining the dead body, judicial 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.

Creepy 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 is gradually losing its 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 comes the mummification of the corpse.

What are Lärše 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 vertices of the triangle are directed toward the outer and inner corners of the eye, and the base is turned toward 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 do the spots appear?

It is not enough to simply determine that the eyes of the deceased had 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 the death of a person. It is established that the cornea begins to dry out two or three hours after 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 after 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, at the same time, 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 in 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.

Symptom of the cat's eye

Lärsche spots, the description of which can be found in this article, are not the only "eye" symptom that allows us 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 the death of the tissue, 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 assume an oval shape, resembling the cat's pupil. If you squeeze the eyeball of a living person, the pupil will not change its rounded shape.

The meaning of thanatology

Thanatology was able to accumulate a huge amount of data that can accurately determine the time of death, as well as establish the causes that caused death. This is very important in criminal practice. After all, thanks to the studies of forensic experts, 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 ascertaining the fact of the final death of the organism, it is possible to carry out resuscitation measures and save the patient.

Conclusion

A 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 physician 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.