青酸ガス中毒死の1剖検例

A fishing-boat was smoked with cyanide-gas to rid vermin. A thirty-year old male was found dead in a cabin of the boat. Autopsy revealed fluid blood, and petechial haemorrhage in conjunctivas, thymus, heart and lungs. Lung, spleen, kidney and other organs were strongly congested. Bleedings in sternocleidomastoideus and sterunohyoideus muscles were found. The bloody foam and solution were also observed in trachea. From these autopsy findings, it was considered that he failed into severe dyspnea. Furthermore, postmortem lividity was bright pink color and the left cardiac blood was also bright pink, so there was markly different between the color of right and left cardiac blood. To make clear his cause of death, during the autopsy the screening test of cyanide, Schonbein-Pagenstecher method, was tried and then it was positive. Further toxicological analysis, quantitative measurement revealed 6.25 μg/ml of cyanide from his blood. From the results of autopsy and toxicological findings, his cause of death was diagnosed as the cyanide-gas poisoning.