[Limitations of the post mortem determination of intravital soft-tissue hemorrhages long after death].

Under experimental conditions we investigated the influence of various environmental conditions and different temperatures on extravasated blood in the galea for varying time periods. At 30 degrees C it took 5-6 days before we could no longer histologically identify either red blood corpuscles or hemoglobin. At 4 degrees C and 18 degrees C we succeeded in making the identification for a considerably longer time. The various environmental conditions selected had no essential influence at any temperature. The forensic application of these results is discussed using an actual case as an example.