Search results for "030216 legal & forensic medicine"
showing 10 items of 85 documents
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
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…
Utility of post mortem computed tomography in clivus fracture diagnosis. Case illustration and literature review
2017
Clivus fractures are usually associated with head blunt trauma due to traffic accident and falls. A 23 - year-old man died immediately after a smash-up while he was stopping on his motorcycle. Post-mortem Computed tomography (PMCT), performed before autopsy, revealed a complex basilar skull base fractures associated with brainstem and cranio-vertebral junction injuries, improving the diagnostic performance of conventional autopsy. Imaging data were re-assessable and PMCT offers the possibility to perform multiplanar and volume rendered reconstructions, increasing forensic medicine knowledge related to traumatic injuries.
Accuracy of the estimation of dental age in comparison with chronological age in a Spanish sample of 2641 living subjects using the Demirjian and Nol…
2016
Age estimation is an important procedure in forensic medicine and is carried out for a number of reasons. For living persons, age estimation is performed in order to assess whether a child has attained the age of criminal responsibility, in scenarios involving rape, kidnapping or marriage, in premature births, adoption procedures, illegal immigration, pediatric endocrine diseases and orthodontic malocclusion, as well as in circumstances in which the birth certificate is not available or the records are suspect. According to data from the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), the number of people seeking refugee status continued to increase in the last years, driven by the w…
Determination of propofol by GC/MS and fast GC/MS-TOF in two cases of poisoning
2017
Two cases of suspected acute and lethal intoxication caused by propofol were delivered by the judicial authority to the Department of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother-Child Care in Palermo, Sicily. In the first case a female nurse was found in a hotel room, where she lived with her mother; four 10 mg/mL vials and two 20 mg/mL vials of propofol were found near the decedent along with syringes and needles. In the second case a male nurse was found in the operating room of a hospital, along with a used syringe. In both cases a preliminary systematic and toxicological analysis indicated the presence of propofol in the blood and urine. As a result, a method for the quantitative determina…
Immunohistochemical study on dystrophin expression in CAD-related sudden cardiac death: a marker of early myocardial ischaemia
2018
The aims of this study were to assess if dystrophin can be a tool for the forensic evaluation of sudden cardiac death due to coronary atherosclerotic disease (CAD) and particularly if it can be a marker of early myocardial ischaemia. Then in this investigation, the dystrophin was compared to C5b-9 and fibronectin to analyze if there are some differences in the expression of these proteins. Two groups of CAD-related sudden cardiac death, respectively the group 1 with gross and/or histological evidence and the group 2 with no specific histological signs of myocardial ischaemia were used. A third group formed by cases of acute mechanical asphyxiation was used as a control. The immunohistochemi…
DNA Commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics: recommendations on forensic analysis using Y-chromosome STRs
2001
During the past few years, the DNA Commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics has published a series of documents providing guidelines and recommendations concerning the application of DNA polymorphisms to the problems of human identification. This latest report addresses a relatively new area - namely, Y-chromosome polymorphisms, with particular emphasis on short tandem repeats (STRs). This report addresses nomenclature, use of allelic ladders, population genetics and reporting methods.
Fatal attack on a pedestrian by an escaped circus elephant
2019
Abstract We report the case of a 65-year-old man who was attacked and killed by a female elephant that had previously escaped from a nearby circus. According to a witness the man was lifted up by the tusks, flung into the air and stomped upon. At autopsy the body showed signs of severe blunt force trauma and impalement, including multiple lacerations of the skin, a crushed thorax, a spinal fracture and a fractured humerus. The spinal cord and the major abdominal vessels were severed. There have been very few elephant attacks in Europe; this is the first reported case in Germany.
Toxicological investigations in a fatal and non-fatal accident due to hydrogen sulphide (H2S)poisoning
2019
Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is one of the most toxic natural gas and represents a not rare cause of fatal events in workplaces. We report here a serious accidental poisoning by hydrogen sulphide inhalation involving six sailors. Three of them died while the other three survived and were transported to the emergency room. No greenish discolouration of the body, that could be a feature of these type of deaths, was observed at autopsy. Given that blood and/or urine H2S detection does not allow to discriminate if it is related to inhalation or to putrefactive processes, the determination of thiosulphate, H2S main metabolite, is decisive. The succession of fatal events reported here can be rebuilt b…
Fatal Anaphylactic Shock Ceftriaxone-Induced in a 4-Year-Old Child
2014
One of the most used cephalosporin in clinical practice is ceftriaxone. Anaphylaxis due to the administration of ceftriaxone is considered a rare event. Here, we report a case of fatal anaphylactic shock after the administration of ceftriaxone in a child who had tolerated the drug in past exposures. The allergic pathogenesis is sustained by the clinical data (short time between the inoculation of the drug and the onset of the symptoms; past exposure to the same molecule and probable sensitization) and the postmortem examination findings (polivisceral congestion and intense eosinophilia found in the histological examination).