Forensic science international
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Reconstruction of brain injuries is a basic task of forensic neuropathology. For better understanding of the wound ballistics of gunshot injuries to the brain caused by low-velocity firearms (E(o) < 550 J), we reviewed the respective contributions of: (1) biomechanical reconstruction by postmortem imaging techniques, (2) biometry of the extent of very early microscopic tissue destruction, and (3) microscopic studies on the type and extent of early microscopic reactions around the permanent missile track. ⋯ (1) Imaging procedures provided valuable information on entrance and exit wounds, the missile track and secondary changes. (2) Biometry revealed a destruction zone of ca. 3.6 cm around the permanent track corresponding to the "temporary cavity". (3) Microscopic studies of reactive changes demonstrated axonal injury at sites remote from the permanent cavity that could explain the very early respiratory arrest following low-velocity gunshot injury.
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The international medical literature described sporadical cases of an exceptional event called the "Lazarus phenomenon". This is the spontaneous reviviscence of an individual after a long time of asystolia following a cardiac accident depending on different pathogenesis (i.e. arrhythmia, ischaemic stroke, haemorrhage, brainstem death). ⋯ We report the case of an 81-year-old woman who experienced a cardiac accident on the street. Once the cardiopulmonary resuscitation was interrupted, the patient presented life activities after some minutes.