Upon a Failure to Equal Entry and Exit Wounds: A Possible Case of Tandem Bullets in View of the Literature

Forensic medicine specialists take account of the projectiles remaining in the body when determining whether there are an equal number of entry and exit wounds. The absence of projectiles should suggest blank cartridges, a single exit wound despite several firings and bullet embolization, whereas the presence of more projectiles than expected may indicate tandem projectiles and multiple projectiles entering through the same hole. Radiological examination of the whole body, follow-up of the bullet trajectories, examination of the clothes, and examination of the gun and projectiles play a key role in solving difficult cases. We review such situations based on a case of tandem bullets. Two 7.65-mm bullets created lethal wounds entering through a 32-year-old victims neck followed the same trajectory to a certain point and diverted. We discussed the possibilities in cases that show inequalities between entry and exit wounds, in light of relevant literature

Contribution of biventricular cardiac blood and pleural effusion strontium concentrations to the diagnosis of drowning

The present study evaluated cardiac blood and pleural effusion strontium (Sr) concentrations in dead bodies found in fresh water or seawater. Eighty cases that had been found in water (59 seawater, 13 fresh water, 8 unknown) were compared with 20 control cases, which had not been found in water and died due to unrelated cause of death, in terms of right ventricle cardiac blood strontium concentration (RVSr), left ventricle cardiac blood strontium concentration (LVSr) and their differences [LVSr-RVSr], as well as pleural effusion strontium concentration (PlSr). The ages of cases were between 2 and 82 years. Seventy one cases were retrieved from water within the first 24 hours. Cause of death was reported as drowning (regardless of Sr concentration) in 68 cases. Whilst 8 cases referred to the supreme board for further investigation, cause of death could not be detected in 3 cases because of advanced decomposition. Of the bodies found in seawater, LVSr and PlSr concentrations were significantly higher than the bodies found in fresh water. LVSr, RVSr and [LVSr-RVSr] concentrations were significantly higher than those of the control group. No difference was determined between the bodies found in fresh water and the control group in terms of [LVSr-RVSr] concentration

Visualizing biliary tracts with isosulphan blue to prevent injury during laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a preliminary cadaveric study

Bile duct injury (BDI) as a complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy may result in biliary cirrhosis with a high morbidity-mortality rate. Recurrent invasive procedures may be required for the optimum management. The most frequent causative factor in BDI is anatomical misidentification, particularly by inexperienced surgeons. Direct coloration of the cystic duct, bile duct, and gallbladder may decrease biliary tract injury

Viral Pneumonias in Forensic Autopsies Evaluation and Classification of Histopathologic Changes With Microbiologic Correlation

Lower respiratory infections are commonly due to viruses and are the third largest cause of death. Respiratory tract viruses have a tendency to target the specific regions in the lung and can harm the host via direct effect of the virus and the host's inflammatory response. In this study, relationships between morphologic changes in the lung and the viral agent type isolated in the lung by the polymerase chain reaction technique were investigated. This study was performed retrospectively at 113 autopsy cases in the Council of Forensic Medicine in Istanbul. Slides from the lung tissues diagnosed as interstitial pneumonia and detected viral agent in polymerase chain reaction were evaluated and reviewed under light microscope by 2 pathologists simultaneously according to predetermined bronchiolar; alveolar; and interstitial findings. Alveolar findings were detected in 108 cases (95.6%), whereas interstitial and bronchiolar findings were detected in 91 (80.5%) and 38 (33.6%) cases, respectively. Intra-alveolar edema was the most common alveolar finding. Some findings such as multinucleated syncytial cells and smudge cells can aid the search for etiologic agent. Interstitial inflammation was the most common histopathologic finding in the lung in viral infections and the most prominent clue to viral infections in the lung histopathologically without discrimination of viral agent type

Differences in Handwritings of Schizophrenia Patients and Examination of the Change after Treatment

The aim of this study was to analyze the differences between the handwritings of schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects in addition to the changes that occurred in schizophrenia patients' handwriting in response to the treatment. The test subjects were 29 schizophrenia patients and 29 healthy individuals with the same age, gender, and dominant hand. The changes in the handwritings were examined according to 14 different parameters. On the day of admittance, the percentage of extra letters was 16.7%, and after 7-10 days of hospitalization, it rose to 33.3%. The percentage of skipped words decreased from 29.2% to 16.7% after 7-10 days of hospitalization, and to 10% after 3 weeks. The letters written by schizophrenia patients are significantly larger in height and width compared to the control group. The schizophrenia patients showed a higher incidence of crossed-out letters, adding extra words, missing punctuation as well as missing words