Journal of forensic sciences
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Case Reports
Cardiac laceration and pericardial tamponade due to cardiopulmonary resuscitation after myocardial infarction.
Complications of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), such as rib fractures and pneumothorax, are not uncommon. The authors report the case of a 69-year-old woman who underwent surgery for a perforated duodenal ulcer. Eighteen hours postoperatively she sustained a cardiac arrest; vigorous resuscitation efforts, using advanced cardiac life-support procedures, failed. ⋯ There was an acute thrombus in the left anterior descending artery. Microscopic examination of the heart showed acute infarction of the left ventricle in the vicinity of the laceration. This case demonstrates that vigorous CPR performed on an acutely infarcted heart can result in lethal cardiac laceration and tamponade.
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When bone is penetrated or perforated by a bullet, the bullet's impacting surface is often uniquely modeled by the fractured bone. Reconstructing bone with simple super-imposition of the bullet's contour lines allows matching of a particular bullet to its specific bone defect.