PULMONARY GIANT-CELLS AND TRAUMATIC ASPHYXIA

A morphometrical analysis was performed to elucidate the significance of pulmonary polynuclear giant cells as a histological sign of asphyxi ation. A total of 13 cases of homicidal strangulation of throttling, 8 cases of traumatic asphyxia due to chest compression and 10 control c ases (cause of death: severe head injury, no signs of aspiration or ot her relevant pulmonary alterations, smokers and non-smokers) were inve stigated. The number of alveolar macrophages containing 1 or 2 nuclei and of polynuclear giant cells per microscopic field (0.000025 cm2) wa s estimated and a statistical evaluation was carried out. A considerab le individual variation was observed in all groups with a tendency to higher numbers of cells in cases of smokers or advanced individual age . However, no significant differences were detectable in the content o f alveolar macrophages and in particular of polynuclear giant cells be tween the asphyxiated individuals and the controls. Since polynuclear giant cells occurred in similar amounts in healthy, functionally norma l lungs of non-asphyxiated individuals, the detection of such cells ca nnot be regarded as a reliable indicator for asphyxiation.