Forensic medical evaluation of head injuries inflicted by blows with blunt objects

A statistical evaluation of injuries of head tissues inflicted by blows with human body parts and with blunt hard objects of communal use was carried out. Characteristic morphometrical and topographical features of injuries and factors essential for their severity are defined.     

Antigenic differentiation of blood stains by the Lewis system in practical forensic medical expert evaluation

A modification of quantitative absorption and absorption elution tests with blood stain washing before the absorption phase is presented. Due to washing, the effect of carrier object on anti-Le(a) and anti-Le(b) sera is decreased and the sensitivity of the method is increased. Additional adsorption of the sera and elution into test erythrocytes treated with protease C is suggested for increasing the number of standard sera fit for the absorption-elution test. A new technology for preparing anti-Le(a) and anti-Le(b) immunoreagents is described.     

Difficulties in forensic medical evaluation of some forms of craniocerebral injury

Conclusions of 41 repeated expert evaluations of craniocerebral injuries within the framework of criminal and civil cases investigation are analyzed. Some aspects of clinical and forensic medical diagnosis of lethal and nonlethal injuries to the head, evaluation of the quality of medical care, and qualification of the severity of harm to health are discussed. Causes of typical expert errors and approaches to their prevention are shown.     

Infrared spectroscopy of the dry residue of liquor crystallograms in various diseases

The article presents the results of an examination of the dry residue of liquor crystallograms (DRLC) using infrared spectroscopy technique. 36 spectrograms were studied. Elements of similarity and difference were revealed in the spectrograms of organic substance (antifreeze, sodium cyclamate and fatty tissue), of DRLC of the crystal-forming matter CuCl(2)x2H(2)0, of DRLC of a live person and cadaveric liquor (with no brain injury in respective case histories), of DRLC of liquor of live persons with a brain injury, of DRLC of liquor of persons who died of a brain injury and of persons who died of other causes.     

The forensic description of torn cerebral aneurysms

103 studies of torn aneurysms in the cerebral vessels are described. Localizations, morphological peculiarities of aneurysms as well as the nature of intracranial hemorrhages caused by torn aneurysms are presented. The authors have a critical attitude to the "acquired" theory of aneurysm development.     

Bile analysis of drugs in postmortem cases

Bile is, in certain cases, collected together with blood from different sites (heart, brain, femoral), urine and other organs or matrices. This study reports comparative results obtained from the analysis of blood and bile for different drugs found: acetaminophen, amphetamine and related compounds, several antidepressants, several benzodiazepines, cocaine and its metabolites, dextropropoxyphene and its metabolite, hydroxyzine, methadone and metabolite, morphine and codeine, levomepromazine, thioridazine, propranolol, tramadol and its metabolite. Several findings are presented: (1) There were no significant differences in the levels of the compounds among the samples of blood obtained from different sites. (2) Levels in bile are generally several fold higher than those in blood. The mean bile to blood ratios vary from about 1 (for acetaminophen, amphetamine) to about 2000 (for desmethylclobazam). (3) In certain cases (16 over 44), although the drug or its metabolite was not detected in blood from different sites, it was detected in bile. As other authors had advocated, it is very useful to ask the pathologist to take the gall bladder with its contents together with the other samples, in order that the sample of bile can be used in the comprehensive toxicological analysis and therefore be complementary to the other fluids or matrices. An additional advantage for using bile is that the concentrations of drugs or their metabolites are generally several fold higher than their blood concentrations.     

Quantitation using GC-TOF-MS: example of bromazepam

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) offers new perspectives for forensic toxicology. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of a mixture of three selected benzodiazepines (diazepam, nordazepam and bromazepam) were used to compare gas chromatography (GC-TOF-MS, quadrupole GC-MS, GC-ECD) and liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD) data. Method validation parameters like LOD, LOQ, S/N-ratios reflect the capabilities of GC-TOF-MS. Five-point calibrations for bromazepam in human peripheral blood (50, 100, 160, 200, 300 ng/ml) using medazepam as internal standard (1000 ng/ml) were performed. The calibrations using GC-TOF-MS (using the fragments of m/z 236 and 288), GC-ECD (dual system) and HPLC-DAD (at 235 nm) all showed correlation coefficients close or superior to 0.99. Quadrupole GC-MS data was not used in the comparison of extracted samples due to the low sensitivity in the full scan mode. Two analyses of real cases concerning bromazepam are presented. In the first case, the presence or absence of bromazepam could not be established with both HPLC-DAD and GC-ECD due to background signals. The extracted ion chromatograms and spectrum traces after the analysis with the GC-TOF-MS could clearly excluded the presence of bromazepam. The second case illustrates the quantitation of bromazepam, where both HPLC-DAD and GC-ECD were unable to give satisfactory results, again due to interfering background signals. The analyses performed on the GC-TOF-MS-system demonstrated high sensitivity and also high selectivity due to the high quality of mass spectra obtained. The advantages of GC-TOF-MS make it a promising analytical technique for forensic toxicology.