Archiwum medycyny sa̧dowej i kryminologii
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Apr 2008
[Scope and interpretation of laboratory tests in HBV/HCV infections--interpretation for medico-legal certification aspects].
Determination of medical effects of HBV/HCV infections, assessment of detriment to health and/or evaluation of effectiveness of therapy and prognosis are essential in medico-legal certification and are of a high value in civil, compensative cases. The author presents the scope of diagnostic laboratory tests, imaging examinations and determinations of HBV/HCV infection markers that are necessary for a possibly complete and objective assessment of future health consequences. ⋯ Based on approximately 400 reviewed and evaluated cases, the author emphasizes divergences between standards imposed by contemporary diagnostic management practices and organs of hepatological supervision, recommendations of university-affiliated centers in chronic liver pathologies, and the "real-life" diagnostic practices in hospital wards and specialist outpatient clinics. The limitations (usually financial in character) that affect diagnostic management often cause severe difficulties in medico-legal opinionating.
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Arch Med Sadowej Kryminol · Apr 2008
[The effect of high temperature on the levels of selected endogenous compounds].
The authors present their research on the levels of carboxyhemoglobin, hydrogen cyanide and ethyl alcohol in the blood of 23 fatalities found in the extreme conditions (methane explosion, fire, high temperature) associated with a mining disaster. Determinations of the presence of carboxyhemoglobin, hydrogen cyanide, and ethyl alcohol were performed as soon as the blood samples were collected from the deceased. The concentration of ethyl alcohol ranged from 0.2 per thousand to 1.3 per thousand in 18 cases. ⋯ In six cases, HbCO tested negative, and the injuries found at autopsy indicated these individuals to have been killed at the moment of the explosion. Blood cyanide content tested negative in all the examined cases. The extreme conditions of the mining disaster, especially high temperature, to which the bodies were exposed, did not have any effect either on endogenous cyanide or carboxyhemoglobin, causing, however, a significant increase in the level of ethyl alcohol in the blood.