International journal of legal medicine
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A quantification of different forms of acute myocardial necrosis, myocardial leukocytic infiltrates and myocardial fibrosis was accomplished in 26 chronic cocaine abusers who died of cocaine intoxication and compared to 45 normal subjects who died from head trauma and 38 who died of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The findings were: absence of infarct necrosis, a similar frequency and extent of coagulative myocytolysis (contraction band necrosis) and leukocytic infiltrates in cocaine abusers and normal controls, and an absence of myocardial fibrosis in cocaine abusers. These findings question both the acute and chronic cardiotoxicity of cocaine. The infarct-like pattern in some predisposed subjects may be due to an excess of catecholamine release induced by the drug resulting in coagulative myocytolysis and platelet thrombi.
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Soft body armour is designed to give protection against fragments and some low velocity bullets but is not designed to stop high velocity rifle bullets. Reports have claimed that soft body armour might disturb the stability of bullets that penetrate it, and that this might increase the size of the lesions. The reason for such an effect might be early yaw of the bullet, so we studied the behaviour of bullets which had passed through soft body armour. ⋯ The semiquantitative approach of the Doppler radar measurement was in agreement with the more concise measurement using the photographic technique. Velocity loss and loss of spin rate from penetrating 14 or 28 ply Kevlar was negligible. We observed induced instability after penetration of 14 and particularly 28 ply Kevlar, dependence of yaw with respect to the number of layers of Kevlar as well as to the angle of the body armour with respect to the line of fire.