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Post-mortem chemical excitability of the iris should not be used for forensic death time diagnosis

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Abstract

Post-mortem chemical excitability of the iris is one of the non-temperature-based methods in forensic diagnosis of the time since death. Although several authors reported on their findings, using different measurement methods, currently used time limits are based on a single dissertation which has recently been doubted to be applicable for forensic purpose. We investigated changes in pupil-iris ratio after application of acetylcholine (n = 79) or tropicamide (n = 58) and in controls at upper and lower time limits that are suggested in the current literature, using a digital photography-based measurement method with excellent reliability. We observed “positive,” “negative,” and “paradox” reactions in both intervention and control conditions at all investigated post-mortem time points, suggesting spontaneous changes in pupil size to be causative for the finding. According to our observations, post-mortem chemical excitability of the iris should not be used in forensic death time estimation, as results may cause false conclusions regarding the correct time point of death and might therefore be strongly misleading.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Butenfeld 34, 22529, Hamburg, Germany

    Katja Koehler, Axel Gehl & Sven Anders

  2. Department of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Martinistrase 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Susanne Sehner

  3. Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

    Martin Riemer

  4. Department of Cardiology and Pneumology, University Hospital Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Strasse 40, 37075, Goettingen, Germany

    Tobias Raupach

Authors
  1. Katja Koehler
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  2. Susanne Sehner
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  3. Martin Riemer
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  4. Axel Gehl
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  5. Tobias Raupach
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  6. Sven Anders
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sven Anders.

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Koehler, K., Sehner, S., Riemer, M. et al. Post-mortem chemical excitability of the iris should not be used for forensic death time diagnosis. Int J Legal Med 132, 1693–1697 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-018-1846-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-018-1846-0

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