Fat from contused adipose tissue may cause yellow discoloration of clothes in blunt trauma victims

In some fatalities from intense blunt trauma, the victims’ clothes show strikingly yellow discoloration being in topographic correspondence with lacerated skin and crush damage to the underlying fatty tissue. This phenomenon is especially pronounced in light-colored textiles such as underwear made of cotton and in the absence of concomitant blood-staining. The constellation of findings seems to indicate that the fabric has been soaked with liquid body fat deriving from the contused adipose tissue. To check this hypothesis, textiles suspected to be contaminated with fat were investigated in 6 relevant cases. GC–MS-analysis proved the presence of 11 fatty acids. The fatty acid composition was similar to that of human adipose tissue with a high proportion of oleic acid (18:1). In total, the morphological and chemical findings demonstrated that the yellow discoloration of the victims’ clothes was caused by fat from traumatized adipose tissue.