An unusual penetrating head wound by a yard broom and its medicolegal aspects

A fatal case of a homicidal penetrating head injury by a blunt object (yard broom) is described. A piece of wood penetrated the skull and remained in the intracranial cavity resulting in infection. The need of careful examination of the head injury is emphasized.     

头部旋转致原发性脑干损伤死亡1例

手背击枕部致脑干损伤死亡较为罕见 ,笔者将遇到一例报告如下 :案　例2 0 0 2年 1月 3 0日 ,彭某 (女 ,3 4岁 )因家庭纠纷被其丈夫用右手背击中后枕部后出现昏迷 (受伤当时 ,彭某头部快速向左旋转欲躲避 ) ,送至医院。查体 :昏迷 ,GCS 7分 ,左瞳孔 0 .4cm ,右瞳孔 0 .2 5cm ,对光反射消失 ,四肢肌力Ⅱ级 ,肌张力偏高。辅助检查 :头颅CT示中脑出血破入脑室。予以急诊行脑室外引流术 ,因抢救无效于伤后第 6天死亡。尸体检验 :死者发育正常 ,右额顶部见一手术切创 ,长5cm ,双瞳孔等大 ,直径为 0 .5cm ,尸表未见其他损伤。解剖检验 :右额部手…     

头部旋转致原发性脑干损伤死亡1例

手背击枕部致脑干损伤死亡较为罕见,笔者将遇到一例报告如下: 案例 2002年1月30日,彭某(女,34岁)因家庭纠纷被其丈夫用右手背击中后枕部后出现昏迷( 受伤当时,彭某头部快速向左旋转欲躲避),送至医院.查体:昏迷,GCS 7分,左瞳孔 0. 4 cm,右瞳孔0.25 cm,对光反射消失,四肢肌力Ⅱ级,肌张力偏高.辅助检查:头颅CT示中脑出血破入脑室.予以急诊行脑室外引流术,因抢救无效于伤后第6天死亡.     

An unusual case of child head injury by coat hanger*

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children suspected of child abuse. Penetrating cranio-facial injuries are generally rare in the pediatric age group and are caused by both accidental and inflicted mechanisms. We report an unusual case of a 2-year-old female who was admitted to a pediatric emergency room with an industrial stainless steel coat hanger impaled in her skull. Pertinent clinical forensic medicine examination, coupled with home inspection and interviews by the local law enforcement, revealed a horrible episode of domestic violence.     

An unusual fatal injury due to tyre burst: a case report

A 20 year-old male driver of a heavy duty crane, employed in an industry located in an industrial area on the outskirts of Delhi was fatally injured while repositioning an ill-fitted locking rim of a crane tyre (Fig. 1). The inner tube of the crane tyre had accidentally burst, dislodging the loose iron-locking rim, which hit the individual with a great force resulting in multiple injuries. He died on his way to the hospital.     

腹部闭合性损伤胰腺断裂1例

胰腺属腹膜后器官,受到较好的保护.在腹部损伤尤其是腹部的闭合性损伤中,胰腺的损伤较为罕见.据文献报道,胰腺损伤仅占腹部闭合性损伤的1%～2%.现报告1例.     

腹部闭合性损伤胰腺断裂1例

胰腺属腹膜后器官,受到较好的保护。在腹部损伤尤其是腹部的闭合性损伤中,胰腺的损伤较为罕见。据文献报道,胰腺损伤仅占腹部闭合性损伤的1%～2%。现报告1例。案例林某,男,21岁,漳州市芗城人。2004年10月31日21时左右,林驾驶二轮摩托车左转时与一辆直行的货车碰撞发生交通事故,     

An unusual case of suicide caused by electric current]

The authors describe a suicide case of a 37 year old master joiner caused by electricity. One wire was put around a neck and the other around the left wrist.     

An unusual death caused by strangulation

An accidental case of strangulation is reported in which the victim caught his head in the gap of a wooden shed. Before passing into unconsciousness rescue was attempted.     

An unusual suicide with a safety razor blade--a case report

A 29-year-old male was found dead lying in a pool of blood inside a community toilet locked from inside. The individual is alleged to have committed suicide by cutting his throat with a safety razor blade, which was found at the scene by the investigating police authority. The deceased, as per his relatives, was suffering from depression for the last few days.     

Burn injuries caused by a hair-dryer--an unusual case of child abuse

About 1.4-26% burn injuries in children appear to be abusive in origin. A 2.5-year-old girl was referred to our institute because of suspected child abuse. Clinical examination and later interrogation of the mother revealed non-recent deep second degree burn injuries on both gluteal regions, caused by the partner of the mother by pressing a hand-held hair-dryer against the skin. The authors present the findings of this unusual method of child abuse.     

An unusual foreign body in the distal small intestine: case report

A case of a deceased 77-year-old woman presenting to the coroner for postmortem examination scribed. A plastic tie used to seal loaves of sliced bread and other plastic-wrapped food stuffs was found clamped by its "teeth" to a length of small bowel proximal to the cecum, resulting in localized mucosal ulceration, thickening, and edema of the bowel wall. There was also infarcted small bowel due to aortic atherosclerosis, which was submitted as the cause of death. The presence of the bread tie probably did not significantly contribute to death but was as an unusual finding at postmortem examination and has not been previously described.     

An unusual mechanical asphyxia in a homicide-suicide case by smothering and strangulation

A very unusual homicide of 2 children by smothering and strangulation by means of a rubber adhesive band carried out by the mother who committed suicide by the same manner is presented. Smothering is supposed to be one major cause of death in child homicide. Suicide by smothering is relatively uncommon. Suicidal smothering by winding strips of adhesive tape around the head to cover the nose and mouth is an even rarer method recently described in literature. The circumstances of the crime and the macroscopic and microscopic evidence are discussed to reduce the potential for underdiagnoses or mistakes in such cases in which it may be difficult to establish whether suicide or homicide occurred.     

An Indian mummy: a case report

A case of mummification occurring in northwest India (Chandigarh) is described. A middle-aged man developed an abscess on his back and was treated by a mystical man who did not allow him any food or water. After a few days the patient died. On the advice of the mystical man the body was kept in a room which was made hot and dry. The police discovered the body after 2 years. A postmortem examination was conducted and findings are reported.     

Suicide by multiple blunt head traumatisation using a stone

Apart from collisions with road or rail vehicles and falls from height, self inflicted blunt force is a rare suicide method and mainly seen in psychiatric patients. The paper presents a rare case of suicide by active blunt force. A 68-year-old man committed suicide by repeatedly hitting his head with a stone. He sustained a craniocerebral trauma and finally died from hypothermia due to the low outdoor temperature. According to the relatives, the man was not diagnosed with a mental disorder or suicidal tendencies. Uncommon manners of self-harm are challenging for those involved in the investigation, and a differentiation between suicide, accident and homicide can only be made in synopsis of all findings.     

An unusual case of anesthetic abuse by a full-face gas mask

The authors report a case of sniffing of halothane (Narcotan) by a 32-year-old man, master of pharmacy, through the military full-face gas mask. The liquid halothane had been applied on the scrubber of the gas mask and voluntarily inhaled. The sniffer was found dead in his flat, with the gas mask still fixed and sealed on his face. Because the authors have not encountered any report of such a case in the literature, they present and discuss this case in this article.     

Accidental head explosion: an unusual blast wave injury as a result of self-made fireworks

A 33-year old hobby pyrotechnician sustained a lethal craniofacial trauma secondary to a salute fireworks blast. He was examining a misfire of a self-constructed salute gun, when it detonated, causing an explosively rupture of his forehead, which led to his immediate death. An autopsy was performed to achieve knowledge of the injury and to be able to reconstruct the events that lead to it. The pressure effect of the explosion caused a shredded rupture of the forehead with a regional spread of brain tissue and small polygonal skull fragments up to 30m from the detonation site. Furthermore multiple cinderlike fragments of black powder were embedded in the skin of the face and the anterior aspect of the neck (s.c. blast tattoo). The complete destruction of the forehead in combination with the multiple blast tattooing suggested that the explosion detonated while he was leaning over the device.     

A biomechanical reconstruction of a wound caused by a glass shard--a case report

During the course of a criminal trial, an investigating pathologist is commonly asked how much force was required to produce an injury. This subjective opinion is based on the pathologist's previous experience of dealing with wounds inflicted with similar weapons. However, in the case of stab wounds inflicted by broken glass, it is unlikely that two glass fragments would be physically similar. In the case studied, two theories were examined: that a wound resulted from a thrown glass fragment or that it had been caused as a stab injury by the glass held in the bare hand. The investigation involved quantifying the energy required for human tissue penetration, comparison of sharpness, a biomechanical analysis of throwing actions and testing of the hypothesis that if the glass shard were used as a stabbing implement it would result in a cut to the hand.The investigation utilised a scientific methodology that reduced the need for speculative (though informed) opinion from the pathologist by producing quantitative results.     

An unusual finding in a case of hypothermia

Suicide was initiated by several incisions in the skin; the resulting hypovolemia resulted in fatal hypothermia. The unusual autopsy findings in this case due to hypothermia were focal hemorrhages and necrosis of the pancreas and hemorrhagic infarction of the descendending colon. The pathophysiological relevance of the autopsy and histological findings are discussed.