ABSTRACT

Electrical injuries cause high mortality and morbidity due to the thermal and non-thermal effects of electricity. High voltage injuries may occur when the electrical potential exceeds the resistance of the air between the source of elect-ricity and a conductor at or near earth potential.We report a 21-year-old man who sustained severe high voltage injuries. This young man touched a portable communication device that had a 3 m antenna. The device was placed approximately 4 m below a 31,500 V high-voltage trans-mission line on a misty night. He had full and partial thickness burns with entry wounds through the hands, head, and neck. The exit wounds were on both feet. He remained in a coma for three days and required partial resection of the left ear and bilateral below the knee amputation. Within the rehabilitation period of two years he developed tetraplegia, cataract of the left eye, and urethral stricture.Deaths or injuries due to high-voltage electrocution are most frequently acci-dental but they are not limited to workplaces. These cases are not only clinically heterogeneous but also pose specific difficulties in forensic investigations. We provide a brief discussion of these aspects.