Vehicular-related traumatic asphyxial deaths--caveat scrutator

A study of vehicular-related traumatic asphyxial deaths was performed on the case files of the Office of the Medical Examiner of Metropolitan Dade County in Miami (FL, USA) during the years from 1980 to 1984. A total of seven cases are presented in some detail. A discussion ensues, including a review of the literature, concerning this diagnosis and the caution a forensic pathologist must take in certifying such a death with so few anatomic findings.