An Autopsy Case of Drowning With Suspected Cadaveric Spasm

We recently investigated a death involving a drowning victim found in a slow-flowing part of a river with the right hand clutching a branch of bamboo growing along the bank. Such hand findings have traditionally been ascribed to cadaveric spasm, supposedly representing a stiffening of the muscles that occurs immediately after death. However, another persuasive opinion is that cadaveric spasm is a myth. A rational explanation for our case might thus be that the hand became flaccid immediately after death, but the bamboo branch remained close to the fingers under slow flow, and the subsequent onset of rigor mortis caused the hand to "grasp" the bamboo branch. However, another report of a drowning case described a blade of grass clutched in a hand despite a strong flow in an irrigation canal, which had swept the deceased 5.5 km downstream and stripped off all clothing. That case was difficult to explain without cadaveric spasm, and 2 animal studies have also shown the development of rigor mortis in a small proportion of animals immediately after death. We thus believe that cadaveric spasm deserves further consideration and should not yet be ruled out.