[Determining the type of drowning based on the levels of blood in the thoracic duct lymph].

The degree of lymphogemy in persons who died of different causes (including drowning) was studied by histologic analysis of the thoracic lymphatic ducts. It was found that quantitative estimation of the presented feature makes it possible to estimate the specific type of drowning which depends on the level of venous hypertension in the system of superior vena cava. This phenomena is strongly marked in spastic and mixed types of drowning and is absent in aspiration and reflex types.