Weidianying——China's Great Love for Small Movies

正IN 2012,the short film A Bed Affair became an Internet sensation in China.Through the eyes of a thief surprised by the sudden return of the flat owners during his foray,director Zhang Yuan allows the audience a 36-minute,fly-on-thewall look into an ordinary Chinese bedroom.However,what the viewers are confronted with are not intense love scenes,but a fierce quarrel that flares up between Zhang Cheng(played by Shen Teng)and his wife Li Xiaoyun(Li Xinyun)over a missing condom.     

Sudden death in an adolescent due to undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma

Few cases of natural sudden death presenting as an undiagnosed lymphoma have been reported in the literature, especially in adolescents. Herein we provide a report of sudden death caused by undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). We describe an 18-year-old female who collapsed after several weeks of weight loss, decreased appetite, and dyspnea. At autopsy, a bulky mass arising in the mediastinum and neck compressed the esophagus and trachea, surrounded the great vessels, obliterated the pericardial sac, and infiltrated the myocardium. The lungs were collapsed and large pleural effusions were present. The tumor burden, which weighed at least 2710 g in aggregate, was entirely above the diaphragm. Microscopic examination of the masses showed features typical for nodular sclerosis cHL including large bands of sclerosis, numerous Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, and an eosinophil-rich mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate. Immunohistochemical stains showed the HRS cells to be uniformly positive for CD30 and CD15 and negative for CD3, CD20, CD45, and PAX5. This case exemplifies a rare sudden natural death due to previously undiagnosed cHL in a young patient.     

Eosinophilic myocarditis from a forensic histopathological perspective

Eosinophilic myocarditis (EM) is a rare and potentially fatal form of myocarditis characterized by infiltration of the myocardium with eosinophil leukocytes, often accompanied by eosinophilia. Although the exact underlying cause remains unknown, it has been shown to be associated with hypersensitivity reactions, immune-mediated disorders, infections, or cancer. Due to the differences in symptomatology, it is often diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination. We aimed to retrospectively examine the histopathological findings of rare cases of EM and to detect accompanying cardiac and other organ pathologies. The histopathological findings of the cases that underwent autopsies between 2012 and 2020 and were diagnosed with EM were assessed. Demographic features, symptoms, causes of death, macroscopical findings at autopsy, toxicologic and microbiological analysis results, accompanying cardiac pathologies, and histopathological findings in other organs were evaluated. Myocarditis was detected on histopathologic examination in 558 (1.1%) of 49,612 forensic autopsies. There were 12 (2.3%) EM cases. There were nine males and four females. The mean age was 42.3 (3–83) years. Heart weights ranged from 82 to 564 g. The most common finding on macroscopic examination was the mottled discoloration and scarring in the myocardium. Microscopic examination revealed perivascular and interstitial infiltration of eosinophils in all of the cases accompanied by myocyte necrosis in four of them. EM was reported as the cause of death in four cases. EM remains a challenging heart disease with its obscure etiopathogenesis and varying clinical presentation and a rare entity diagnosed by postmortem histopathological examination in sudden and unexpected deaths.     

致命室性快速心律失常心室肌能量的代谢改变与氧化损伤

目的探讨致命室性快速型心律失常(LVTA)能量代谢相关变化及氧化损伤。方法建立以乌头碱(ACO)注射和冠脉结扎(CAL)心肌缺血诱导的LVTA-心脏性猝死(SCD)SD大鼠模型,以过度麻醉(PI)及冠脉结扎心衰致死(CAL-B)为各自对照,检测心室肌线粒体膜电位(MMP)、活性氧(ROS)、丙二醛(MDA)、磷酸肌酸(PCr)及血清肌钙蛋白I(cTnI)含量,并进行比较。结果成功制备ACO-LVTA及CAL-LVTA大鼠14只及6只。与各自的同行对照比较,ACO-LVTA组及CAL-LVTA组心室肌的ROS及MDA呈升高的趋势,PCr呈下降的趋势,其中CAL-LTVA的MDA显著高于其同行对照(P0.05)。ACO-LVTA组心室肌的MMP低于对照组,但高于CAL处理的两组。CAL-LVTA组血清cTnI高于对照组,且显著高于ACO-LVTA组及其对照与处理前(P0.01),ACO-LVTA组血清cTnI高于对照组与处理前。心肌ROS水平与VT及VF持续时间相关(P0.05),相关系数分别为0.44、0.46。结论发生LVTA后,心室肌MMP及PCr下降、ROS、MDA升高,血清cTnI升高,表明LVTA可导致能量代谢改变及氧化损伤,可能与线粒体功能异常相关。     

Postmortem Analysis of Electrogram Records from an Implantable Cardioverter‐Defibrillator (ICD) in the Reconstruction of a Road Traffic Accident

The case of a 69‐year‐old man, equipped with an ICD and suffering from several chronic cardiac diseases, who died in a car accident, was presented. We analyzed electrogram records from the ICD explanted from the body during the autopsy, which showed that the driver had suffered from malignant ventricular arrhythmia—ventricular fibrillation (VF). A thorough analysis of the details of the accident, as well as the timing of VF and the rhythm observed after the discharge of the ICD showed that the direct cause of the accident was the episode of arrhythmia resulting in a loss of consciousness. Therefore, the presented case illustrates the usefulness of postmortem analysis of electrogram records from ICDs in the reconstruction of road traffic accidents. In such cases, if the victims are implanted with ICDs, it should be a routine procedure performed by forensic pathologists.     

Multiple Giant Coronary Artery Aneurysms: A Rare Cause of Sudden Cardiac Death

Multiple giant aneurysms involving the coronary arteries are uncommon and rarely reported. In the presented case, a 63‐year‐old man with poorly controlled hypertension died suddenly. Gross autopsy examination showed multiple giant thrombus‐filled coronary artery aneurysms, atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, and cardiomegaly. Histological sections of the coronary aneurysms showed atherosclerotic changes with both organized and fresh thrombus. Giant coronary aneurysm is defined as a segmental enlargement of a coronary artery with a diameter exceeding 20 mm or more. The main etiology of this nebulous entity is attributed to atherosclerosis and inflammatory or inherited connective tissue disorders with the remainder being congenital, infectious, or idiopathic. Before its cataclysmic presentation, when ruptured or thrombosed, giant coronary aneurysm usually has a silent clinical course. Sudden death owing to giant multiple coronary aneurysms is rare and mandates careful classification of the aneurysms and prudent search for autoimmune‐mediated or genetically based factors for subsequent ancillary autopsy studies.     

Obesity,Body Mass Index,and Homicide

The body mass indexes (BMIs) of 100 randomly selected homicide cases from the files of Forensic Science SA were compared to the Australian and South Australian populations. There were 70 males and 30 females (M:F = 2.3:1; age range 18–84 years; mean 42.3 years). There was a substantially lower proportion of obese individuals in the homicide population compared to the general Australian and South Australian populations (19% [vs.] 27.9% and 30%, respectively). A second group of 144 randomly selected autopsy cases where the BMI was ≥40 kg/m² was analyzed. There were 77 males and 67 females (M:F = 1.2:1; age range 23–78 years; mean 46.7 years). The majority of deaths were natural (N = 108), with no homicides. A negative association between obesity and homicide has, therefore, been demonstrated. Reasons for the lower numbers of obese/morbidly obese individuals among homicide victims are unclear, but may include physical protection afforded by fat padding from sharp force injuries, and relative sociodemographic isolation.     

TGF-β1在SCN5A基因变异所致心源性猝死中调控作用

SCN5A基因变异所致心源性猝死发生机制尚不清楚。目前研究显示TGF-β1介导心肌纤维化以及离子通道重构调节机制的异常可能是SCN5A基因变异导致SUNDS发生的主要原因。本文就转化生长因子β1对SCN5A基因变异所致心源性猝死调控的影响机制研究进展进行综述,以期为心源性猝死法医学研究和实践提供参考。     

窖蛋白与不明原因心源性猝死的相关性研究进展

不明原因心源性猝死(unexpected sudden cardiac death,USCD)因其不伴有心脏结构的异常,尸体解剖呈阴性改变,一直是法医病理学鉴定的热点难题。USCD可能与部分致死性心律失常有关,该类心律失常多由心脏离子通道蛋白或其相关蛋白发生异常所致。窖蛋白可以通过其脚手架区域与多种心肌离子通道蛋白结合,在维持心肌动作电位的去极化和复极化中起到关键作用。当窖蛋白由于基因突变或蛋白表达异常等因素导致其结构和功能受到影响时,受其调控的心肌离子通道的功能也受到损害,继而引起多种离子通道病的发生,出现心律失常甚至心源性猝死。研究窖蛋白对离子通道功能的影响对于探索恶性心律失常及心源性猝死的发生机制具有重要意义。     

IMA和H-FABP在心源性猝死法医学诊断中的应用

急性心肌缺血的发生是心源性猝死的最常见原因,而如何认定早期急性心肌缺血是法医学研究的热点,同时也是临床预防心肌梗死发生的重要环节。本文通过对缺血修饰白蛋白(ischemia modified albumin,IMA)和心型脂肪酸结合蛋白(heart-type fatty acid binding protein,H-FABP)的结构、功能、临床应用价值及法医学中的应用前景进行综述,旨在分析二者是否可作为早期心肌缺血的生化检测指标用于心源性猝死的诊断,并为今后选择心源性猝死的科研方向提供借鉴。