Forensic science international
-
The Widmark's equation (C [BAC]=A/p×r) is the most commonly used formula in legal medicine to estimate the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) from the amount of ingested ethanol and vice versa. Within a drinking experiment with a target BAC of 1.2 g/kg, a 75-year-old participant reached a maximum BAC of 1.83 g/kg and showed signs of severe ethanol intoxication, while the other nine subjects (age: 19-31 years) had BACs close to the target BAC. This incident brought up the question, if the Widmark's equation is an appropriate tool for aged persons. ⋯ The results demonstrate that BAC calculations by Widmark's equation in elderly individuals may be complicated by a high variation of Widmark factors. There is a tendency to an elevation of the actual BAC with increasing age.
-
Case Reports
Fatal traumatic aneurysm of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery with delayed rupture.
Traumatic aneurysms of intracranial arteries are rare, forming less than 1% of all intracranial arteries. They may be associated with penetrating and non-penetrating trauma. Most cases are associated with fracturing of the skull. ⋯ At autopsy, there was a 4.0 mm aneurysm of the left PICA just after the origin of the artery. Histological examination confirmed the presence of a traumatic false aneurysm in the left PICA. This case study shows sequential radiological imaging with pathologiocal correlation.