Publication:

Ageing of abrasions by gross and histopathological examination – study among dead bodies brought to modern mortuary, King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam

Background Dating injuries has important medico-legal implications. Abrasion age estimation in routine forensic practice relies mainly on gross examination, while histopathology provides objective microscopic evidence. However, their correlation remains insufficiently studied in India. To estimate the age of abrasions by gross and histopathological examination and correlate gross changes with microscopic findings.

Methods This prospective observational study was conducted from August to December 2021 at Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam. Sixty-four medicolegal autopsy cases with known times of injury and death were included. A total of 118 abrasion samples underwent gross and histopathological examination using haematoxylin and eosin staining.

Results The study included 51 males (79.68%) and 13 females (20.31%), with most aged 21–40 years (39.06%). Road traffic accidents accounted for 76.56% of cases and graze abrasions were most common (57.62%). Grossly, bright red discolouration was observed up to 6 hours, reddish scab up to 38 hours, brownish scab up to 115 hours, dark brown scab up to 140 hours and black scab from 140–290 hours. Vascular congestion was the earliest microscopic change (25 minutes), followed by oedema, inflammatory cell infiltration, fibroblast formation, granulation tissue, collagen formation and regression. Good correlation was observed.

Conclusions Combined gross and histopathological examination may improve abrasion age estimation in medicolegal practice.