Artifact Due to Cervical Collar in a Delayed Hanging Death - Abstract
Artifact is any change caused or feature introduced in the natural state of the body that is likely to be misinterpreted at autopsy. We present a case of a young female who allegedly hanged herself and died four days after the incident in a hospital. There were some unusual findings on her neck which raised the suspicion about the manner of death but were later found to be due to the cervical collar used to stabilize the neck of the deceased. This case report intends to highlight the importance of differentiating the artifacts from ante mortem injuries in deciding the cause and manner of death. The authors also aim to add to medical literature about the type of therapeutic artifacts which could be found in a hospitalized person in a hanging case.