[Medicolegal aspects of a survived suicide attempt by hanging]

Report on the clinical and medicolegal findings in a survived suicide attempt by hanging. A 39-year-old woman was found unconscious in a crouching position on the balcony of her flat. The hanging device was an electric cable running around her neck in a single loop and attached to the balcony wall. After removing the noose, resuscitation measures were started immediately. For 5 hours, the victim was at first in a comatose and then in a somnolent state. The period of amnesia covered also the preparations for the suicidal act. The forensic examination performed on the same day showed a reddish, streak-like hanging mark, pronounced signs of blood congestion with dense petechial haemorrhages in the facial skin, confluent haemorrhages in the conjunctivae as well as bleeding from the left external auditory canal. BAC was 2.2 per mil. On the basis of the findings and the clinical course, criminalistic and pathophysiological aspects of near-hanging are discussed.