Utility of the pacemaker in identifying a cadaver and in clearing up the causes of death, regarding a case
Section: Artículos Científicos
Authors
Fernando Martín Tomé1, Mª Jesús López Sáinz1, Ana Belén Gómez Julián1, Mª Begoña Santamaría Fernández1, Jose Amador Rubio Caballero2, Elena Esteban Paúl2 y José Roselló Baldó3.
Position
1 Enfermero/a de la Unidad de Hemodinámica y Electrofisiología del Servicio de Cardiología del Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón de Madrid.2 Médico Cardiólogo/a de la Unidad de Arritmias del Servicio de Cardiología del Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón de Madrid.3 Médico Forense de la Agrupación de Forensías 3 y 4 de Alcorcón de Madrid.
Contact address
Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón. C/ Budapest s/n, Alcorcón, 28922 Madrid
Contact email: fmartin@fhalcorcon.es
Abstract
The proper identification of a cadaver is important not only for ethical, but also for legal reasons, and involves a series of physical and legal challenges for forensic surgeons. If the undocumented cadaver is bearing a pacemaker, its identification can be made by the serial number of the device. With the increasing advancements in technology, pacemakers have also incorporated data storage capabilities. Through the use of pacemaker programmers, medical and nursing staff can obtain those data in the form of tables, graphs and electrogramas.
Serial numbers of a pacemaker and an electrode found in a cadaver in an advanced state of decomposition helped us to identify it. It was a 74-year-old man diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation. He was bearing a Medtronic Sensia SESR01 pacemaker programmed in VVI. A sharp increase of the stimulation threshold and of the ventricular electrode impedance was recorded in the internal memory of the pacemaker. A quick frequency event with its corresponding ventricular electrogram was also recorded, where ventricular fibrillation was ascertained.
Pacemaker interrogation by the medical and nursing staff and the analysis of the data and intracavitary electrograms therein stored by a pacemaker programmer allowed us to determine the exact date and time of death, as well as the possible cause of his death.
Keywords:
Artificial pacemaker; pacemaker programmer; victims identification; causes of death
Versión en Español
Título:
Artículo completo no disponible en este idioma / Full article is not available in this language
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