Philemon and Baucis syndrome: three additional cases of double deaths of married couples.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_C0D8258AE618
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Publication sub-type
Case report (case report): feedback on an observation with a short commentary.
Collection
Publications
Title
Philemon and Baucis syndrome: three additional cases of double deaths of married couples.
Journal
Forensic Science International
Author(s)
Delannoy Y., Tournel G., Dedouit F., Cornez R., Telmon N., Hedouin V., Rouge D., Gosset D.
ISSN
1872-6283 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0379-0738
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2013
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
226
Number
1-3
Pages
e32-e36
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Case Reports ; Journal ArticlePublication Status: ppublish
Abstract
The simultaneous death of two people is immediately considered as a suspect. However, this feeling is reinforced when the individuals are spouses. In these situations, criminal and forensic investigations are required to establish whether or not the deaths were homicidal in nature. Despite many descriptions of simultaneous deaths being present in the literature, the simultaneous death of two spouses from natural causes is poorly described with Ciesiolka et al., Department of Legal Medicine in Gießen (Germany), being the only ones to have reviewed two case reports involving these circumstances. The scarcity of this type of information in the literature renders the task of claiming natural simultaneous death as the final outcome of an investigation difficult. We would like to report three additional cases with the aim of better describing this type of event. In all three cases, the bodies were those of a married couple in their 80s. The bodies were discovered in the same room. In each case, the death of one of the spouses could be attributed to natural cause; however the death of the other spouse could not be determined with certainty, and shared several similarities in all cases: simultaneity in death; a pre existing cardiovascular disease/disorder; a certain degree of fragility and dependence on the other spouse whose death could lead to acute psychological stress. Intense psychological disorder could trigger acute coronary or rhythmic disorders. The mechanisms by which brain activity influences cardiac electrophysiology are now known to take place via the autonomic nervous system mediation. This brain activity could provide an explanation for the death of the individuals with pre-existing heart conditions, who underwent significant stress upon occurrence of the death of their partners. The death of these individuals, which took place at the same place and time as their deceased spouses, can be attributed to natural causes: the Philemon and Baucis syndrome.
Keywords
Accidental Falls, Aged, 80 and over/psychology, Death, Sudden, Cardiac/etiology, Female, Forensic Medicine, Heart Arrest/etiology, Heart Diseases/pathology, Humans, Male, Pulmonary Edema/pathology, Spouses/psychology, Stress, Psychological/complications, Syndrome
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
12/01/2016 11:46
Last modification date
20/08/2019 16:35
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