Journal of forensic and legal medicine
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In the present study, deaths by ligature strangulation in the province of Konya (Turkey) were evaluated from the medicolegal point of view between 2001 and 2006. In total 2850 medicolegal death cases, 161 (5.65%) were resulted from asphyxia and 20 (12.4%) of the deaths due to asphyxia were cases of ligature strangulation. ⋯ On the examination of neck structures, thyroid cartilage fracture was present in 7 (35%) cases, fracture of the hyoid bone in 3 cases (15%), fracture both of the thyroid cartilage and hyoid bone in 1 case (5%), only ecchymosis in soft tissues in 7 cases (35%). In the paper, the findings determined in our cases are discussed in the light of the literature on the subject.
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Self-poisoning with organophosphorus (OP) compounds is a major cause of morbidity and mortality across South Asian countries. To develop uniform and effective management guidelines, the severity of acute OP poisoning should be assessed through scientific methods and a clinical database should be maintained. A prospective descriptive survey was carried out to assess the utility of severity scales in predicting the outcome of 71 organophosphate (OP) and carbamate poisoning patients admitted during a one year period at the Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, India. ⋯ The mortality rate was 7.0%. Suicidal poisoning was observed to be the major cause (80.2%), while other reasons attributed were occupational (9.1%), accidental (6.6%), homicidal (1.6%) and unknown (2.5%) reasons. This study highlights the application of clinical indices like GCS, APACHE, PMR and severity scores in predicting mortality and may be considered for planning standard treatment guidelines.
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Propofol is a short acting intravenous anaesthetic, active agent of Diprivan. The abuse potential of propofol has not completely defined, but there are anecdotal case reports in the literature about propofol abuse and dependency. ⋯ The propofol level of the blood sample was measured with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry after liquid-liquid extraction. The results of toxicological investigation suggested that death was not directly caused by propofol intoxication, however, based on the pathomorphological changes detected during the medico-legal autopsy we supposed that the fatal outcome was resulted by respiratory depression after rapid injection.