International journal of legal medicine
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Multiple gunshot suicide can be a controversial subject mainly because of wrong opinions concerning immediate incapacitation or alleged backwards hurling. For the last 20 years, experts in medicine and physics have tried to demonstrate what really happens during a gunshot wound. Different methods have been used to achieve this aim such as basic physics or the use of empirical evidence. In this paper, using a finite element model of the human head, we demonstrate that no incapacitation or backwards hurling can occur from a gunshot fired between the eyes which did not enter the cerebrum.
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Multicenter Study
Are autopsies of help to the parents of SIDS victims? A follow-up on SIDS families.
Little is known about what bereaved parents feel about the autopsy performed on their child. A multi-centre case control study of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) victims was carried out in Germany between 1998 and 2001, in which all infants had been autopsied. We performed a follow-up study 4-7 years after the parents had lost their child. ⋯ A large proportion (46%) did not want any professional help after the death, and 55% did not wish to have any contact with a self-help group. We conclude that the autopsy is helpful to the majority of bereaved parents. Professional help and self-help groups should be offered to the parents even if the majority in our study did not want to use either.
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A 31-year-old woman was found dead by her daughter, lying in the living room which showed a large pool of blood, secondary droplets and stains from arterial blood spatter, dropping and contact. This bloody scene and two puncture wounds at the anterior aspect of the neck, one of them transecting the left common carotid artery leading to exsanguination, arose suspicion of homicide. ⋯ This self-inflicted accident demonstrates that inspection of the scene and synthesis of autopsy and scene findings can be crucial for a successful medico-legal reconstruction. The mechanism of producing the accidental injury is very extraordinary, in that the woman actively moved into a shattered wine glass instead of falling into an intact architectural glass surface.
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A new specific and sensitive LC-MS-MS method for the detection of taxine B and isotaxine B, the main toxic pseudo-alkaloids from yew (Taxus sp.), in biological samples (blood, urine, gastric content) was developed. Biological samples were prepared for LC-MS-MS by means of solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure and yielded a recovery of 86%. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an RP(18) column. ⋯ The limit of detection and the limit of quantitation are 0.4 and 2 ng/g, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of taxine B and isotaxine B in four fatal cases (two humans, two horses) with suspected yew intoxication. Blood levels were 105, 168, 174 and 212 ng/g.
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The relationship between postmortem serum cytokine levels and severity of traumatic injuries was studied. The postmortem serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) of 131 victims who died from traumatic injury were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method and compared with scores of total abbreviated injury scale (total AIS) and injury severity score (ISS) calculated from detailed autopsy reports. ⋯ The significant correlation between cytokine levels and anatomical traumatic severity indicated that the cytokine levels are useful objective indexes of traumatic severity. In addition, the total AIS is a suitable marker to evaluate traumatic severity as the coefficient of correlation between the cytokine levels and the total AIS was higher than that for the ISS values.