[Sauna deaths in Hesse, Germany, between 1994 and 2014].

Abstract

Due to the high ambient temperature, sauna deaths show a few confounding particularities, such as an accelerated onset of the postmortem changes, that can make correct assessment of the manner of death difficult and severely constrain the accuracy of post- mortem interval estimates. This retrospective study, performed at the medicolegal institutes in Hesse, Germany, reviewed all autopsy reports from the years 1994-2014 for sauna-related deaths. 9 relevant cases were found involving one woman and eight men aged between 52 and 80 years (mean and median value: 67 years). Of the individuals who had died of a natural cause, four were found to have had coronary heart disease, which, in the setting of heart hypertrophy and exposure to high temperatures, ultimately led to cardiac failure. In three other cases, a non-natural cause of death had been diagnosed; however, all were attributable to accidents. In two of these, blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of over two per mil were found. In our opinion, the manner of death should be classified as undetermined in sauna-related fatalities. Such cases require a court-ordered autopsy to reliably identify the actual cause of death.