Unterkühlung. Umstände, morphologische befunde und ihre pathogenese

Anatomic lesions in fatalities due to hypothermia are variable and unspecific. If the body cooling is rapid and the duration of the cooling process until death short, necropsy findings can be scarce or even completely missing. Typical morphological signs in hypothermia are frost erythema, hemorrhagic gastric erosions, lipid accumulation in epithelial cells of renal proximal tubules, and pancreatic hemorrhage, which are - although unspecific as single findings - diagnostic regarding the circumstances of the case, especially when they are found together. Typical morphological findings can be found in two-thirds of cases. The main pathogenetic mechanisms are disturbances of microcirculation, changes of rheology, cold stress, and hypoxydosis.