Statistical Analysis of Postmortem Inspection Cases of the National Forensic Service Seoul Institute in 2017.

Lee, Young Man; Choi, Minsung; Won, You jin; Park, Jong pil; Choi, Cheol Ho; Seo, Insoo; Kim, Duk Hoon; Choi, Seung gyu; Kang, Bonggu; Aum, Nahyun; Kim, Dong yeong; Kim, Seong Ho; Kim, Yu hoon; Park, Jeong woo; Yang, Kyung moo; Choi, Young Shik

doi:2019.43.2.64

Korean J Leg Med > Volume 43(2); 2019 > Article

Original article

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2019;43(2):64-70.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2019.43.2.64 Published online May 31, 2019.

Statistical Analysis of Postmortem Inspection Cases of the National Forensic Service Seoul Institute in 2017.

Young Man Lee, Minsung Choi, You jin Won, Jong pil Park, Cheol Ho Choi, Insoo Seo, Duk Hoon Kim, Seung gyu Choi, Bonggu Kang, Nahyun Aum, Dong yeong Kim, Seong Ho Kim, Yu hoon Kim, Jeong woo Park, Kyung moo Yang, Young Shik Choi

¹Division of Forensic Medicine Investigation, National Forensic Service Seoul Institute, Seoul, Korea.
²Medical Examiner's Office, National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea. rudany@korea.kr
³Sewon Forensic Medical Services, Seoul, Korea.
⁴National Forensic Service, Wonju, Korea.

Abstract

This study provides a statistical analysis of 1,226 cases of death occurring in Area 8, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (Gangseo, Yangcheon, and Guro Police Stations) from January 1 to December 31, 2017. There were 427 postmortem inspection cases in Gangseo, 393 in Yangcheon, 377 in Guro, and 29 in other areas. The number of autopsy cases was 69 in Gangseo, 70 in Yangcheon, 86 in Guro, and seven in other areas. According to the postmortem inspection reports, there were 593 cases of natural death and 336 cases of unnatural death, while in 297 cases the cause of death was unknown. Of the 297 unknown cases, autopsy rates from each police station were as follows: 54 of 99 cases (54.5%) in Gangseo, 60 of 101 cases (59.4%) in Yangcheon, 67 of 93 cases (72.0%) in Guro, and in all four cases (100%) from other areas. Unnatural deaths included 215 cases of suicide, nine cases of homicide, and 64 accidental death, while 48 cases were undetermined. Among the unnatural deaths, the cause of death included 138 cases of hanging, 72 cases of falls from a height, and 32 cases of poisoning. Since this statistical study is based on actual postmortem inspection data for 1,226 cases of death in the eight areas of Seoul (excluding deaths from traffic accidents), it raises issues relating to the current postmortem inspection system, and can be used as reference material for a comprehensive overview of causes of death.

Key Words: Postmortem inspection, Autopsy rate, Cause of death, Manner of death