Beitrage zur gerichtlichen Medizin最新文献

In the autopsy material of the Innsbruck University Institute for Legal Medicine, from the years 1979 to 1988, in 919 road accident victims, 171 cases of traumatic diaphragmatic rupture were found. On the basis of this large material, it could be concluded that the side of rupture depends mainly on the site of impact and that, contrary to clinical studies, there is no significant prevail of left-sided rupture.

Test shots (cartridges .22 lr and 9 mm Parabellum) were fired on skin preparations taken from the lumbar region. As anticipated, with caliber .22 the outer diameter and the area of the abrasion ring were smaller than with the 9 mm caliber. This was true of both orthograde and inclined angle shots. In the case of vertical projectile impact, the outer diameter of the epidermis-free area was either smaller or only slightly larger than the cross-section of the projectile. The area of the abrasion ring exceeded the area of the entrance hole in the proportion of 3:1 (.22 lr) and 2.45:1 (9 mm Para), respectively. The epidermis bordering immediately on the abrasion ring was lifted off, with irregular and torn-in edges. Progressive drying up of this border zone simulated a time-dependent increase of the abrasion ring. If the bullet penetrated at an oblique angle, the eccentrically enlarged drying-up collar (on the side from which the bullet came) showed a tongue-shaped area of unaffected epidermis with an intact stratum corneum. This phenomenon can be explained by the wound-ballistic behaviour of the skin in inclined angle shots. Skin covered with a layer of water showed no abrasion collar around the entrance hole.

Procedures are described in emergency medicine for the screening of drugs by reverse-phase high-pressure-liquid-chromatography (HPLC) with diode-array detector (DAD). The column is LiChrospher RP 18 (microbore column) and the mobile phase a mixtures of acetonitrile (ACN), phosphate-buffer (pH 2.3) and ACN/phosphate-buffer (pH 2.3).

This study investigated the deposition of methadone in blood, liquor, urine and organ tissues, obtained from sheep after daily administration of methadone during 23 days. One sheep was killed two hours after methadone application, one sheep after 24 hours without methadone, and one sheep after seven days without methadone. The methadone determination was performed by radioimmunoassay. The concentrations measured represent the sum of methadone and its metabolites expressed in methadone equivalent/ml or g, respectively. The highest methadone levels were found in blood and liquor in the first 30 minutes. After seven days without methadone in blood, liquor and urine was methadone not more found. Only in the synovial fluid and vitreous humor measurable methadone levels were present.

In 1590 Markgrave Jakob III. of Baden died, 28 years old, after a sudden disease which had lasted nine days. A necropsy was performed by two professors of the Freiburg University faculty of medicine. A written report amazingly accurate for the time, exists. It points at poisoning by arsenic powder. This is the first existing written protocol of a forensic autopsy, performed by professors of the faculty of medicine of Freiburg in 1590, 26 years after Vesalius' death.

A 52-years old woman fell downstairs at home and suffered fractures of the left 9. and 10. rib. She was admitted to hospital; a small subcutaneous emphysema was seen over the fractures. Primary radiograph of the chest showed no internal complication. The patient was observed over night on intensive care unit without abnormalities. Next morning she was transmitted to the regular ward; on this way a control chest-radiography was made. A large hematothorax was seen. The radiologist tried to telephone with the surgeon at the new ward, who was not available because of operating. The nurse at phone (novice) misunderstood the message or the correct message was wrong interpreted by the other nurses in the sense that they believed that the patient had a history of (treated) hematothorax, so that no acute treatment was necessary. The surgeon was not informed, when he came later; the patient was brought from the x-ray station and nothing more happened. About 10 hours later the woman died. The radiologist has been condemned by reason of killing due to carelessness; the fine was placed on probation. In the opinion of the court the radiologist--as the only person, who knew the acute and unexpected condition of the patient--rejected against his liability to guarantee the life of the patient, since he not maked quite sure that the woman really received the needful treatment.

During the last 5 years a continuous increase of the number of intoxications with the analgesic paracetamol has been realized. Most cases were due to attempted suicides whereas few cases resulted from accidental overdosing to small children. In the latter case two to threefold overdoses often caused serious intoxications. Whereas the number of attempted suicides with other drugs remained constant only those with paracetamol increased. In contrast to attempted suicides with other drugs people below 20 years form the major group of those taking paracetamol.

An economic and reliable method for simultaneous determination of Gc, alpha-1-antitrypsin, acid erythrocyte phosphatase, and phosphoglucomutase by means of isoelectric focussing in ultrathin-layer gels is described. Man advantages are time- and costsaving without any unreliabilities in forensic application.

Strength-duration curves (i/t-curve) are describing the dependence of the threshold intensity of rectangular impulses from their duration; in clinical neurophysiology they help to clarify whether a muscle is denervated or not. In the post-mortem interval from 2 to 9 hpm the pm. changes of strength-duration-curves were investigated on 17 bodies; muscular contraction was objectified using a sensitive force transducer pricked into the muscle. The muscle was stimulated with constant-current rectangular impulses of 5 to 1000 msec. duration and current intensities which produce a force of muscular contraction of 2.5 mN each half an hour. The strength-duration-curves of human bodies taken at the earliest possible time p. m. (2 hpm) show already the pattern of partially or total denervation (steep rise of threshold values for duration of stimuli shorter than 100 msec). As for the rheobase there is a strong linear relationship between ln of the threshold and time since death for duration of stimuli below 1000 msec. Extrapolation of the time since death on the basis of threshold values of different duration of stimulations of an i/t-curve reveals only small rise of precision of death time estimation compared to extrapolation of the time since death just with the rheobase.