AUTOPSY CASES AMONG PATIENTS WITH MENTAL-DISORDERS - AN UNUSUAL CASE OF ASPHYXIA CAUSED BY THE IRON ROLLER OF A GARBAGE TRUCK

A case of asphyxia of a young man suffering from ''Identity Disorder'' as delineated by the DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association's Di agnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders revised in 1987) i s reported. The patient jumped into the drum of a garbage truck and th e iron roller in the drum asphyxiated him by compression. In addition to the presentation of this rare category of the DSM-III-R disorders a s an autopsy case and an unusual means of asphyxia, we briefly reviewe d other autopsy cases of the patients with mental disorders who died i n Japan between 1988 and 1992.