The Mechanism of Death in Electrocution: A Historical Review of the Literature

Our present understanding of electrocution followed a long path of detours and speculation. It is now hard to appreciate how mysterious was an unexpected sudden death - without visible trauma - and we should be sympathetic to the surprising theories that came from well-intentioned attempts to find something in the autopsy of an electrocution victim. The early hypotheses (1880s) tended to favor effects on the central nervous system, but the emphasis switched to arterial and hematological mechanisms as well as respiratory arrest (ie, asphyxia) along with a widespread publication debate. While careful animal experimentation slowly established that electrocution was due to the induction of VF (ventricular fibrillation), the older hypotheses held sway for many decades. Even today, the neurogenic and asphyxial explanations reappear occasionally. Despite 170 years of research, the phenomenon of electrocution continues to generate new hypotheses for its mechanism.