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Sexual asphyxia, a solitary autoerotic activity practiced almost exclusively by males, is examined in this paper. The self-induced asphyxia may be either chemical or mechanical, and its purpose it to heighten the sexual pleasure. The practice of sexual asphyxia can result in death; however, many such deaths may erroneously be viewed as suicides or homicides as a result of the lack of knowledge of the practice. Sixteen sexual asphyxial deaths, reported in Dade County (Miami), Florida, are examined in detail. These data confirm that practitioners are over-whelmingly young, white, middle-class, unmarried males. When the practice is fatal among older practitioners, the data show that some complicating factor, such as the use of alcohol or other drugs, may have contributed to the accident. The most frequent method of inducing the asphyxia was simple hanging by rope and in most cases there was no indication nor suspicion of suicidal intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]