Unusual genital piercing dividing the corpora cavernosa
- PDF / 400,413 Bytes
- 3 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 17 Downloads / 174 Views
IMAGES IN FORENSICS
Unusual genital piercing dividing the corpora cavernosa Vincenzo M. Grassi • Fabio De-Giorgio
Accepted: 18 December 2013 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Case report While eating lunch a 70-year-old man began coughing and experiencing labored breathing. His guest called an ambulance. When the ambulance officers arrived they found the patient pulseless and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but were unable to revive him. The Prosecutor ordered a forensic autopsy to discern if this case was an autoerotic death/sexual asphyxia or a natural death, as the man was known to have a very unusual piercing and pornographic material, including several photographs of his genitals, was found in his house. At autopsy, the external examination of the genitals revealed that the two corpora cavernosa were separated at the base of the penis (Fig. 1) and surrounded by two golden rings that enclosed the testicles (Fig. 2). Another golden ring was placed around the external urethral meatus and the right hemigland (Fig. 3).The urethra was interrupted (Fig. 4) and its lumen was encircled by scar tissue, while the penile urethra was patent (Fig. 5). A thin golden necklace was inserted into the shaft of the penis and wrapped around the base (Figs. 1, 2). Internal examination revealed the presence of food (pasta) in the airways, from the larynx to the main
V. M. Grassi F. De-Giorgio (&) School of Medicine, Institute of Legal Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy e-mail: [email protected]
bronchial bifurcation. Toxicological analysis revealed a blood alcohol concentration of 1.2 g/l. The cause of death was choking due to food aspiration.
Discussion Piercing is the act of creating a fistula-like tract, or simply an opening in the body, in which decorative ornaments may be worn [1]. Earrings have been worn from the earliest times, but over the past 30 years increasing numbers of people have single or multiple piercings almost anywhere through the skin [2]. The sociological importance of this phenomenon is that virtually every culture has some form of body modification, including tattooing and piercing, which represent the most common examples. Piercing is associated with many medical problems, i.e. local infection, sepsis, superficial cervical lymphadenopathy, contact dermatitis, edema and hematoma formation, exuberant granulation tissue, and keloid scars [3, 4]. Implantation of penile pearls, penile tattooing, and piercing represent different forms of genital modifications in men [1, 5]. Genital piercings commonly involve the glans or the skin of the penis and scrotum. The motivation for genital piercing varies greatly from one individual to another, and may involve provocation, rule violation, self-expression, rite of passage, or the need to increase self-esteem. Finally, the association of genital piercing with certain psychopathological or antisocial behavior suggests a connection between erotic piercings and sadomasochism and f
Data Loading...
