Caspase 9 and Caspase 3 Immunohistochemical Pattern in Skeletal and Cardiac Muscles at Different Times after Death: An Experimental Study on PMI Esti…

2021

(1) Background: The estimation of the post mortem interval (PMI) is a challenge for forensic pathologists because data emerging from methods commonly applied are not always conclusive, since several conditions exist that may affect the reliability of these parameters. Thus, new approaches have been proposed to overcome such a limit. In recent years, several studies have been performed on proteins analyzing their expression/degradation patterns in relation to the progressing of the post mortem interval. (2) Methods: The immunoreactivity patterns of two apoptosis mediators—Caspase 9 and Caspase 3—have been tested in order to evaluate their potential role as markers of the post mortem interval…

Unusual attempted suicide or covered attempted homicide? A neck stabbing case report and review of literature.

2020

A medico-legal consult is frequently required in a clinical context in order to assess the eventual compatibility of specific wounds with a self- or hetero-infliction. Accordingly, the case of a 52-year-old man with a single, penetrating stab wound of the neck, reported as self-inflicted, is here presented. The forensic aspects, taken into account in order to determine the self- or hetero-infliction nature of the wound, are further discussed and compared to cases described in the literature.

FORENSIC MICROBIOLOGY: A CASE SERIES ANALYSIS

2019

The importance of microbial colonization of human organs in a living body has long been assessed. What still remains unclear are the microbial changes occurring after death, thus leading to the advent of a relatively novel field of research called “Postmortem microbiology”. It is applied to several forensic fields such as post-mortem interval assessment and cause of death determination. In this contest, a major limit is thus represented by the correct interpretation of the microbial data and by the actual lack of standard procedures. Here we propose a standard operative protocol in order to avoid false positives given by contamination (the main problem), post-mortem translocation and agonal…

An Insight into the Role of Postmortem Immunohistochemistry in the Comprehension of the Inflammatory Pathophysiology of COVID-19 Disease and Vaccine-…

2021

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic due to the spread of COVID-19 from Wuhan, China, causing high mortality rates all over the world. The related disease, which mainly affects the lungs, is responsible for the onset of Diffuse Alveolar Damage (DAD) and a hypercoagulability state, frequently leading to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and multiorgan failure, particularly in old and severe-critically ill patients. In order to find effective therapeutic strategies, many efforts have been made aiming to shed light on the pathophysiology of COVID-19 disease. Moreover, following the late advent of vaccination campaigns, the need for the comprehension …

Are there positive lessons for Italy's NHS resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic?

2020

The authors evaluate the importance of prevention measures and health care from their own experience and briefly analyse the factors that may have contributed to the rapid spread of Covid-19 in Italy, and hope this will feed into appropriate and new and improved health policies.

The role of PMCT for the assessment of the cause of death in natural disaster (landslide and flood): a Sicilian experience

2021

AbstractIn this report, the authors provide a contribution of PMCT in assessing the cause of death due to natural disasters. Here, the PMCT findings of 43 subjects who died during both landslide and flood were described. The post-mortem imaging revealed, clearly, traumatic injuries and/or the presence of foreign material in airways allowing to assess the cause of death of each subject, together with external inspection and the collected circumstantial data. Particularly, the PMCT has been helpful for characterization and localization of the clogging substance in airways providing findings on bronchial branches involvement. Moreover, the investigation offered detailed data on skeletal injuri…

Hanging disguised as bondage: accidental or suicidal death?

2020

The concept of autoerotic asphyxiation refers to the use of devices or substances intended to enhance one's arousal by inducing cerebral hypoxia, which can involuntarily lead to death. Although in most cases death occurs accidentally, it is nonetheless true that the same devices might be used by the practitioners in order to attempt suicide. The case of a 34-year-old practitioner of autoerotic asphyxiation found dead in his apartment with bondage-like ligatures and masking is reported here. The case raised some issues concerning the accidental or suicidal nature of the act. The aspects taken into account in the management of the case are discussed, along with a compared approach to the data…

Caspase 9 and Caspase 3 Immunohistochemical Reactivity Pattern in Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle at Different Times After Death: A New Tool for Postmort…

Learning Overview: After attending this presentation, attendees will understand the importance of the identification of new markers that could be used as possible PMI indicators, especially in contexts in which the reliance on the classic thanatochronological triad—livor, rigor, and algor mortis—is not conclusive. Impact on the Forensic Science Community: This presentation will impact the forensic science community by highlighting the relationship between the activation pattern of caspases 9 and 3 on skeletal and cardiac muscle samples and PMI. The determination of the amount of time elapsed from one’s death to the recovery of the body—the so-called PMI—has always relied on the evaluation o…

Retinoblastoma Is Characterized by a Cold, CD8+ Cell Poor, PD-L1- Microenvironment, Which Turns Into Hot, CD8+ Cell Rich, PD-L1+ After Chemotherapy.

2021

Purpose To investigate the impact of chemotherapy (CHT) on human retinoblastoma (RB) tumor microenvironment (TME). Cases and Methods Ninety-four RBs were studied, including 44 primary RBs treated by upfront surgery (Group 1) and 50 primary RBs enucleated after CHT (CHT), either intra-arterial (IAC; Group 2, 33 cases) or systemic (S-CHT; Group 3, 17 cases). Conventional and multiplexed immunohistochemistry were performed to make quantitative comparisons among the three groups, for the following parameters: tumor-infiltrating inflammatory cells (TI-ICs); programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) positive TI-ICs; Ki67 proliferation index; gliosis; PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) protein expression; vessel nu…

Investigation of the skin lesions in lightning strike death

2021

Lightning strike-related deaths are unusual, and the victim bodies can present different lesions due to the different injury mechanisms associated with this event. Since the post mortem assessment can be challenging, the evaluation of the characteristics of the skin lesions becomes fundamental to reconstruct the event. Due to the paucity of literature on this topic, the authors report the case of a 59-year-old man found dead near his home after a thunderstorm. Initially considered a murder by gunshot, the autopsy revealed the typical lightning strike lesions, also known as Lichtenberg figures. The adequate interpretation of the autopsy data and the histological evidences allowed to reconstr…

Fire in operating room: The adverse "never" event. Case report, mini-review and medico-legal considerations.

2020

Abstract The patient’s security and safety represent a topic of great importance for public health that led several healthcare organizations in many Countries to share documents to promote risk management and preventing adverse events. Surgical Fire (SF) is an infrequent adverse event generally occurring in the operating room (OR) and consisting of a fire that occurs in, on, or around a patient undergoing a medical or surgical procedure. Here a medico-legal case involving a 65-year-old woman reporting burns to the neck due to an SF during a thyroidectomy was described. A literature review was performed using Pubmed and Scopus databases, focusing on epidemiology, causes, prevention activitie…

Post-Mortem Immunohistochemical Evidence of β2-Adrenergic Receptor Expression in the Adrenal Gland

2019

The evidence from post-mortem biochemical studies conducted on cortisol and catecholamines suggest that analysis of the adrenal gland could provide useful information about its role in human pathophysiology and the stress response. Authors designed an immunohistochemical study on the expression of the adrenal &beta

Role of post mortem computed tomography in diagnosis of upper cervical fractures in child due to road accident: A case report and literature review

2019

The upper cervical spine has unique anatomical features that distinguish it from the remainder of the cervical spine. Its motion segments make up a large amount of total cervical spine motion and, as a result,predispose it to a unique set of injuries. Cervical spine trauma is a common problem with a wide range of severity from minor ligamentous injury to section of the spinal cord. The use of post mortem CT (PMCT), and the subsequent multi-planar and volume rendering reconstruction techniques can provide non-invasive, objective operator-independent imaging data set that may be further reviewed by other specialists. and can substantially add to forensic examinations of the skeleton, especial…

Post-Mortem Investigations for the Diagnosis of Sepsis: A Review of Literature

2020

To date, sepsis is still one of the most important causes of death due to the difficulties concerning the achievement of a correct diagnosis. As well as in a clinical context, also in a medico-legal setting the diagnosis of sepsis can reveal challenging due to the unspecificity of the signs detected during autopsies, especially when no ante-mortem clinical data, laboratory, and cultural results are available. Thus, a systematic review of literature was performed to provide an overview of the main available and updated forensic tools for the post-mortem diagnosis of sepsis. Moreover, the aim of this review was to evaluate whether a marker or a combination of markers exist, specific enough to…