1/16. Indoor postmortem animal interference by carnivores and rodents: report of two cases and review of the literature.We present two cases of nearly total skeletization of the exposed face and neck due to indoor postmortem animal interference and a review of the literature. In the case of a 61-year-old man, inspection of the damaged soft tissue margins revealed serrated edges and parallel cutaneous lacerations caused by rats. In the case of a 40-year-old woman, postmortem examination revealed v-shaped and rhomboid-shaped tunneled wounds in the damaged soft tissue caused by a pit bull terrier. The autopsy in both cases identified natural causes of death. While the morphological feature of postmortem soft tissue artifacts caused by rodents can be ascribed to animal incisors, stab wound-like punctured wounds are characteristic of canine dentition of carnivorous origin. Additional morphological criteria for injuries of carnivorous origin are linear scratch-type abrasions from claws in the vicinity of the injuries. In cases of indoor postmortem animal interference damage is primarily caused to the exposed areas of the body, no self-defense injuries can be found on the deceased's body, only a small amount of blood or the total absence of bloodstains should be expected at the scene, an inquiry of pets living free in the house or wild animals having possible access to the scene should be conducted and rodent excrement found at the scene can give the investigator further information.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/16. Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart) as a forensically-important fly species in thailand: a case report.The first documented use of the larvae of the hairy maggot blow fly, Chrysomya rufifacies, for estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) of a decomposing human corpse in thailand is reported. A honeycomb-like wound observed on one leg of the corpse was infested with numerous third-stage C. rufifacies larvae. Based on the pupae and larvae present in accordance with the ambient temperature previously recorded, six days postmortem was estimated for a corpse at the time of its discovery and investigation. Since adult C. rufifacies specimens have been collected in many parts of both urban and mountainous areas in thailand, more biological information about this blowfly species is needed to increase the accuracy of forensic investigations where the fly is present.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.33333333333333keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/16. Thermally induced entrance wound-like defect of the skull.A case of death due to car fire is described where the carbonised skull of the cremated corpse showed an ovoid defect of the cranial bone. The question arose whether this formed fracture was caused by a gunshot. But the reconstruction of the cranial remains with detached parts of the tabula externa provided evidence that the suspicious defect was to be classified as an uncommon heat-induced post-mortem artefact.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 4.273859741018keywords = gunshot, wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/16. Nonterrorist suicidal deaths involving explosives.Suicidal deaths involving explosives unconnected to terrorism are rare. The investigation of deaths from explosive devices requires a multidisciplinary collaborative effort, as demonstrated in this study. Reported are 2 cases of nonterrorist suicidal explosive-related deaths with massive craniocerebral destruction. The first case involves a 20-year-old man who was discovered in the basement apartment of his father's home seconds after an explosion. At the scene investigators recovered illegal improvised power-technique explosive devices, specifically M-100s, together with the victim's handwritten suicide note. The victim exhibited extensive craniofacial injuries, which medicolegal officials attributed to the decedent's intentionally placing one of these devices in his mouth. The second case involves a 46-year-old man who was found by his wife at his home. In the victim's facial wound, investigators recovered portions of a detonator blasting cap attached to electrical lead wires extending to his right hand. A suicide note was discovered at the scene. The appropriate collection of physical evidence at the scene of the explosion and a detailed examination of the victim's history is as important as documentation of injury patterns and recovery of trace evidence at autopsy. A basic understanding of the variety of explosive devices is also necessary. This investigatory approach greatly enhances the medicolegal death investigator's ability to reconstruct the fatal event as a means of separating accidental and homicidal explosive-related deaths from this uncommon form of suicide.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.33333333333333keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/16. skin tension and cleavage lines (Langer's lines) causing distortion of ante- and postmortem wound morphology.The assessment of individual wounds at autopsy may be complicated by the superimposition of a number of injuries or damage to tissues that occurred after death, either of which has the potential to distort the morphology of the initial injury. Additional factors that may change the shape of wounds are (1) the relationship of the wound to the so-called skin cleavage lines (Langer's lines) and (2) tension placed on the skin. Three autopsy cases are reported to demonstrate once more how wound morphology may be altered by such factors. In case 1, rectangular stab wounds to the base of the neck in a 53-year-old man, which suggested that a square or rectangular tool may have caused the injuries, were altered to more typical knife stab wounds once skin tension had been released at autopsy. The uppermost wounds, however, continued to gape due to the effects of skin cleavage lines. In case 2, slit-like wounds resembling stab wounds in the neck of a 54-year-old woman found in a river were shown to be circular once skin tension had been released. In case 3, the effects of either cleavage lines or skin tension could be demonstrated on excised wounds from a 43-year-old man whose body had also been found in a river; tensile forces easily changed circular into slit-like wounds. Tension and/or skin cleavage lines may transform round skin defects into slit-like wounds resembling knife stab wounds, round out genuine stab wounds and artefactually lengthen stab wounds. These factors must be taken into consideration carefully when wounds are assessed at the death scene prior to autopsy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6.6666666666667keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/16. Unusual productions of endogenous alcohol: report of two autopsy cases.We experienced two autopsy cases in which endogenous alcohol productions by saprogens had been unusual. Case 1 is a victim found in a mountain stream 3 to 4 weeks after his death. Since ethanol and n-propanol concentrations in the right intrathoracic bloody fluid, pericardial sac fluid, and blood in the right side of the heart were 0.41 mg/g and 0.052 mg/g, 0.42 mg/g and 0.032 mg/g, and 0.45 mg/g and 0.025 mg/g, respectively. The ethanol detected in those specimens appeared to have been produced postmortem. The femoral muscle and urine, however, contained very little n-propanol though the ethanol levels were 0.21 mg/g and 0.05 mg/g, respectively. Thus, we judged the victim might have died soon after drinking a little alcohol. Case 2 is a victim who was stabbed in the abdomen (liver) with a knife and died due to hemorrhagic shock after 26.5 hours in spite of a peritoneotomy. It was probable that metabolic activities of the liver had decreased significantly after getting a wound. Almost 1 mg/g of ethanol and little n-propanol were detected in the heart blood. In the intraabdominal bloody fluid, however, 2.45 mg/g of ethanol and 0.079 mg/g of n-propanol were detected. n-Propanol level in the bloody fluid is equal to that in severely decomposed body and indicates that a large amount of ethanol was endogenously produced. It may be considered that the unusual ethanol production was caused by the severe peritonitis after the operation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.33333333333333keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/16. Multiple gunshot wounds of the head: an anthropological view.A decomposed body was judged at the scene to have two gunshot wounds of the thorax and three of the head. Confirmed at autopsy, the condition of the remains precluded conclusions about the precise nature of the defects. Preparation and reconstruction of the skull disclosed seven large cranial defects and a series of fractures. This preparation allowed the application of well-known principles of gunshot wound analysis. Although the analysis of specific gunshot wound defects is well covered in the literature, there are few examples of the application of gunshot wound principles to complex wound cases. Three entrances and three exits were identified. A seventh defect resulted from bullet passage. Finally, the wounds were sequenced.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 26.857544594811keywords = gunshot, wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/16. Postmortem wound dehiscence. A report of three cases.Three cases of healing incised wounds that dehisced following death are reported. All three deaths were apparent drownings during summer months. The incised wounds had occurred from 1 week to 6 months prior to death. The length of post-mortem immersion ranged from 2 days to 3 weeks, and all three decedents exhibited significant decompositional changes. Proper recognition of this postmortem artifact eliminates undue suspicions and contributes to proper identification.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/16. Postmortem wounds--an attempt to defraud an insurance company.A case in which wounds were inflicted after death in an attempt to defraud an insurance company is presented. attention is drawn to those features which may be of assistance in differentiating antemortem wounds from those which may be inflicted after death. A number of pitfalls for the unwary are highlighted.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/16. Biochemical reconstruction of three cases of death--results of international cooperation.Biochemical serotonin and histamine determinations were applied to the reconstruction of three suspected homicide cases. To distinguish between ante-mortem and post-mortem wounds and to time the ante-mortem injuries the concentrations of free histamine and serotonin in the wound samples and in the control samples from neighbouring intact skin were examined. The results of these biochemical determinations allowed a reconstruction of the events and one of the three cases was shown to be suicide instead of homicide. The methods can be used at least during the first 4--5 days after death and sometimes even longer. This allows for international cooperation when investigating and reconstructing complicated cases of death.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.66666666666667keywords = wound (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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