AIM: To compare the quality of perinatal and infant necropsy examinations in 1996 with those performed in 1993. METHODS: Cohort analysis, with data from the All Wales Perinatal Survey, of 1027 deaths (540 in 1993; 487 in 1996) of babies between 20 weeks' gestation and one year of age. The ...

Increasingly, police respond to confrontations in which the individual demonstrates violent and combative behavior as a result of drug-induced delirium. From medical, legal, and police documents, 61 cases of excited delirium decedents in police custody between 1988 and 1997 are analyzed. In all of the cases, the person fought with ...

The primum movens of a forensic autopsy is to track down the crime. The perfect crime can be defined as one which will never be suspected and/or one for which the criminal will never be arrested. We have reported several cases that have been adjudicated or are being adjudicated, and ...

With the increasing requirement of the courts for forensic experts to engage in ongoing education, a continuing education programme (CEP) was developed in the field of clinical forensic medicine at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine in 1996. This programme has been described and was initially established to provide a ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To validate the Belgian vital statistics for coronary heart disease (CHD) on the basis of an independent acute myocardial infarction (AMI) register, carried out as part of the WHO-MONICA project. DESIGN: Records of fatal cases of AMI in the WHO-MONICA register were individually linked to the corresponding death ...

BACKGROUND: Carisoprodol is a skeletal muscle relaxant with the potential for abuse. A carisoprodol overdose is rarely considered fatal. Nevertheless, we encountered carisoprodol in several cases, prompting review of our experience. METHODS: We did a retrospective study of cases examined at the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner Office from January 1, ...

OBJECTIVE: To review a satellite facility's autopsy experience with coroner's cases, to determine the volume and type of cases performed; and to evaluate the teaching value of forensic autopsies in a pathology residency training program. DESIGN: A retrospective review of 65 Los Angeles County Coroner cases performed at Cedars-Sinai Medical ...

OBJECTIVE: Fatty acid oxidation (FAO) disorders are frequently reported as the cause of sudden and unexpected death, but their postmortem recognition remains difficult. We have devised a biochemical protocol in which informative findings in liver tissue are microvesicular steatosis, elevated concentrations of C8-C16 fatty acids, glucose depletion, and low carnitine ...

A lightning strike can cause death or various injuries to one or several persons. The mechanism of injury is unique, and the manifestations differ from those of other electrical injuries. In the United States, lightning causes more deaths than do most other natural hazards (e.g., hurricanes and tornadoes), although the ...

Because ventricular fibrillation or other arrhythmia have been suggested as a cause of unexplained sudden infant death, many authors focused their studies on the conduction system especially in the 1970s. These studies were not conclusive and many pathologists have abandoned the study of the conduction system. We have reviewed the ...

A case of unexpected death in a six-year-old child, who died after a period of non-specific symptoms and clinical signs, is described. The cause of death was a pilocytic astrocytoma of the pontocerebellar angle, rare with regard to location and histology. The authors have reviewed the literature, which was scanty.

We report a case of sudden death following psychiatric electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). A schizophrenic patient with manic excitement (39-year-old male) in a mental hospital died while vomiting immediately after ECT. The cause of death was diagnosed as asphyxia due to aspiration of vomitus (choking). It is now considered that ECT ...

Swine influenza virus (SIV), a common zoonotic infection, affects swine, particularly during late autumn and winter. Transmission of SIV from pigs to humans has been reported occasionally; most cases are mild infections and rarely lead to death. Herein we describe an immunocompetent woman in whom the adult respiratory distress syndrome ...

Accurate comparison of ante-mortem photographs and the skull of a deceased person is dependent upon suitable superimposition techniques and a post-mortem dentition which is comparable to the situation obtaining in the individual at the time of death. The skull featuring in this case presented with a missing upper lateral incisor, ...

Previous research into postmortem interval (PMI) estimation has been restricted to temperate and arid climates. Results suggest that decomposition rates may be significantly slower in cold weather regions. Preliminary research to conduct a cold weather time since death study has begun in Edmonton, which experiences mean monthly temperatures below freezing ...

This case report describes an accidental death due to the inhalation of tetrachloroethylene during an autoerotic episode. Tetrachloroethylene was administered from a can of Fix-A-Flat tire repair. Analysis of tetrachloroethylene was performed using headspace gas chromatography and electron capture detection. The blood tetrachloroethylene concentration of 62 mg/L was consistent with ...

This paper proposes the use of radiographic magnification to detect the effects of neck traumas. This technique, both fast and economical, has proved to be particularly useful in all those cases where post mortem examinations failed to detect valid evidence of lesions of the hyoid-larynx complex. This is the case ...

Sudden death due to the inhalation of halogenated hydrocarbons is a well-documented phenomenon in the scientific and medical literature. Recently, there has been sporadic information suggesting that nonhalogenated hydrocarbons may cause potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias. This report documents five sudden deaths due to inhalation of nonhalogenated hydrocarbons: n-butane, isobutane and ...

Although no formal accident data reference system exists, the cave diving deaths in Florida from 1962-1991 and 1995-July 1996 (data for 1992-1994 were unavailable) is reviewed. These cases reveal that the number of diver fatalities is cyclical in nature with a periodicity of eight years. Because we are currently only ...

AIMS: To establish criteria for the information to be included in a necropsy report, and to improve the quality of necropsy reporting in the Anglia Region. METHODS: Discussion between Anglia histopathologists, based on the guidelines of the Royal College of Pathologists, led to a consensus about the ideal content of ...

AIM: To examine current practice and to establish criteria for the use of histopathology in necropsy practice. METHODS: During an audit of necropsy reporting, consensus could not be reached about the use of routine histopathology. Therefore local guidelines were formulated and current practice was compared with these guidelines. Fifteen consecutive ...

A sudden death due to Paragonimus kellicotti infection in a dog that had had no previous clinical signs of illness until the day of admission to the veterinary hospital is documented. The clinical, haematological and biochemical abnormalities, as well as postmortem findings, are presented. This report represents the first case ...

Sudden unexpected death in young adults of 18-35 years account for an important subset of deaths in our autopsy population. The case notes and autopsy reports in 44 subjects were analysed during the period 1985-94 at the Department of Histopathology, University College Hospital, Galway to establish the underlying cause of ...

Three cases of unexpected childhood death are presented in which significant potentially life-threatening lesions were identified that were considered coincidental to the cause of death. Two children died of accidental asphyxia and one died of potassium fluoride poisoning. Abnormalities identified at autopsy included established myocarditis (two cases) and cardiac rhabdomyomas ...

We report an unusual case of a 17-year-old girl who died in an filled bathtub. There were at least two attacks of unconsciousness in her premortem history. In April 1994, electrocardiography had shown an incomplete right bundle branch block. At autopsy, unspecific signs of drowning and hypoplasia of the terminal ...

Archival material and clinical data of 10 autopsy cases of Leigh's disease (LS), aged from 44 days to 9 years at death, were reviewed. Development delay, irregular respiration, feeding difficulty, and abnormal eye signs were the most common symptoms. Seizures (five of ten cases) were also frequent. In most patients, ...

This paper describes the first pregnancy in a childless widow after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment with her deceased husband's spermatozoa which had been stored for nearly 3 years before use. Before his death the husband had received treatment for testicular cancer and he had given the appropriate written consent ...

Four postmortem cases are reported in which the analgesic drug tramadol was identified. Tramadol is an alkaline extractable drug and elutes from a HP-5 column without the need for derivatization. Two metabolites of tramadol, N-desmethyl and O-desmethyl tramadol were also identified. Heart blood concentrations of tramadol in the four cases ...

A neural network is a computerized construct consisting of input neurons (which process input data) connected to hidden neurons (to mathematically manipulate values they receive from all the input neurons) connected to output neurons (to output a prediction). Neural networks are created and trained via multiple iterations over data with ...

The structure and function of the Anaesthesia Mortality Committee of Western Australia are described. Reports of 500 deaths from 1990 to 1995 are analysed and discussed. The Committee determined that, in 21 cases, anaesthesia played a significant part in the death of the patient. These cases are further analysed. Deaths ...

A comparison of patterns of injuries between homicides and cases of dyadic death was performed. In 195 homicides, 139 deceased (71%) showed exclusively one type of trauma (mainly gunshot wounds) whereas two and even three types of trauma were detectable in 45 (23%) and 11 (6%) of the cases, respectively. ...

The term dowry cannibalism is used in this article to describe a unique case where the motive for cannibalism was the non-fulfilment of a husband's dowry demands from his wife. The husband was accused by the wife of regularly using a syringe to withdraw blood from her, with the intent ...

This is a review of the literature concerning the epidemiology and natural history of land mine deaths and injuries among civilian as well as military populations. Included is a case report involving the wounding and treatment of a member of the Croatian armed forces who stepped on and detonated a ...

BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, a notification procedure for physician-assisted death has been in use since 1991. It requires doctors to report each case to the coroner, who in turn notifies the public prosecutor. Ultimately, the Assembly of Prosecutors General decides whether to prosecute. Although physician-assisted death remains technically illegal, doctors ...

Two autopsy cases of men who died while connecting a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipe are reported. Their blood concentrations of propane (the main content of LPG) were 0.12 and 3.40 mg/100 g, respectively. The cause of death after exposure of LPG has generally been considered to be asphyxia from ...

Even though the use of electricity is an integral part of our lives, the number of accidents and deaths related to electricity is on the decline. This is due to increased awareness of electrical hazards and, in large part, to increased inclusion of safety mechanisms by manufacturers. However rare, electrical ...

The domestic pig (Sus scrofa domestica L.) has been wild breeding in the Varzea Amazonian Estuary area. Without dietary supplement or medical prevention, the pigs survive, bringing economic benefits to local peasants. Endoparasitic diseases generate economic losses because of neonatal death and clinical disease. We assessed the nematoda (O. Nematoda) ...

We report the case of a young, previously healthy woman who was brought to the emergency department in cardiac arrest and who died despite resuscitative efforts. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be sarcoidosis of the brain stem and cerebellum with secondary obstructive hydrocephalus. Neurosarcoidosis presenting as sudden ...

An earlier retrospective, clinicopathological review of 132 perioperative Coroner's autopsies (excluding cases of preoperative major trauma), conducted by the Department of Forensic Medicine during the period from January 1989 to December 1991, showed that such cases accounted for an average of 2% of all Coroner's autopsies performed during that time. ...

OBJECTIVE: To establish the number of fatal pedal cycle accidents occurring in the Sheffield and Barnsley area, UK, and to investigate the possible benefits of helmet wearing by cyclists. DESIGN: All medicolegal investigations into fatal road traffic accidents in the areas of Sheffield and Barnsley (total population 757,300) were reviewed ...

Tribal warfare is a way of life in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. In earlier times direct confrontation with bushknives and axes, and shooting with bows and arrows were common. In recent years there have not been as many instances of direct confrontation with bushknives and axes, but the ...

To describe the clinical and demographic characteristics of fatal hepatitis due to single-drug isoniazid preventive therapy for tuberculosis, we did a survey of cases from state health departments, published case reports, and reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1970 to 1992. Of 108 reported cases, some ...

A review of renal histology from 44 neonatal and pediatric autopsies, all with documented intensive hospital courses, identified 8 cases showing varying degrees of microscopic calcium deposition. Histochemical and x-ray spectroscopic microanalysis showed that all eight cases contained intratubular deposits of calcium oxalate, and two cases contained both oxalate and ...

In modern medicine, there are very few infectious disease processes occurring in the foot that can cause death within 48 hr. and have an overall mortality rate of 50% despite appropriate antibiotic and surgical treatment. Such a condition must be regarded as being potentially deadly. The authors report a case ...

Intracardiac residual air after open-heart surgery may carry a significant risk of embolization with associated morbidity and death. We hereby report two cases of retained intracardiac air detected in an unusual location with transesophageal echocardiography in the superior aspect of the left atrium after completion of standard air-evacuation procedures. Characteristic ...

AIMS: To assess the frequency with which the cause of death on death certificates included the relevant details requested of certifying doctors, especially in deaths due to malignant disease, but also including certain other deaths where specific information would be expected to be included. METHODS: Consecutive series of certificates attributing ...

Hypoxic encephalopathy is rarely mentioned as a cause of neurogenic diabetes insipidus (DI) in children. We here report six cases of DI which occurred after severe hypoxic/ischaemic brain damage and include a review of the literature on 28 paediatric cases of neurogenic DI due solely to severe hypoxia/ischaemia. Airway obstruction, ...

The New South Wales Special Committee Investigating Deaths Under Anaesthesia classified 1503 deaths before full recovery from anaesthesia occurring between 1984 and 1990. 172 deaths were attributed to anaesthesia, including 11 in which the anaesthetic choice or management could not be criticized. In the remaining 161 an average of 1.8 ...

Death awaits all, leaving in its wake relatives and friends affected by the loss of a loved one. Immediately following death, the funeral process begins, resulting in permanent burial in a cemetery. This report investigates the dysfunctional interactions between grief-stricken relatives and mortuaries that are associated with civil litigation for ...

Men who indulge in auto-erotic asphyxial practices are rarely encountered by psychiatrists. More often, they come to light at a coroner's inquest, and a verdict of "accidental death" is usually rendered (e.g., from hanging/suffocation). This paper describes and contrasts three cases of auto-erotic asphyxial practices. The first case, of accidental ...