Retrospective Evaluation and Comparison of All Medicolegal Autopsies Performed Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic in İzmir

Objective:In this study, in the 2 year period before and after the first date of the COVID-19 case in Turkey (between 11.03.2019-10.03.2020-11.03.2020-10.03.2021) İzmir Forensic Medicine Group Presidency we aimed to show the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic by examining the autopsies and autopsy findings performed in the Izmir Forensic Medicine Group Presidency through the forensic autopsy records.Methods:Our study was planned as a retrospective study of autopsies performed in İzmir Forensic Medicine Group Presidency. The work will start after the necessary permissions are obtained from the İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institute. The data of autopsies performed between 11.03.2019-10.03.2020 and 11.03.2020-10.03.2021 in the İzmir Forensic Medicine Group Presidency will be analyzed in terms of age, gender, cause of death, origin of death and mode of death.Results:A total of 4604 autopsy cases were examined in our study. In the pre-pandemic period, the number of female cases was 472 (21.4%), the number of male cases was 1734 (78.6%), the most common form of death was suspicious death with 1192 (54%), and the most common origin was 1039 (47.1%) was detected as natural death. After the pandemic, these numbers were found to be 413 (17.2%) for women, 1985 (82.8%) for men, 1398 (58.3) suspicious deaths and 1072 (44.7%) natural deaths.Conclusion:As in all areas of life, changes have occurred in forensic autopsy practice with the COVID-19 pandemic, and we think it is important to share the data we have obtained as a result of examining and analyzing all forensic autopsies performed during and before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Izmir for two years

Robot-Assisted Epiretinal Membrane Peeling: A Prospective Assessment of Pre- and Intra-Operative Times and of Surgeons' Subjective Perceptions.

PURPOSE The Preceyes Surgical System (PSS) is a robotic assistive device that may enhance surgical precision. This study assessed pre- and intra-operative times and surgeons' perceptions of robot-assisted epiretinal membrane peeling (RA-MP). METHODS We analyzed the time requirement of three main tasks: the preparation of the PSS (I), patient preparation (II), and surgery (III). Following surgery, the surgeons were asked questions about their experience. RESULTS RA-MP was performed in nine eyes of nine patients. Task I required an average time of 12.3 min, initially taking 15 min but decreasing to 6 min in the last surgery. Task II showed a mean time of 47.2 (range of 36-65) min. Task III had a mean time of 72.4 (range of 57-100) min. A mean time of 27.9 (range of 9-46) min was necessary for RA-MP. The responses to the questionnaire revealed a trend towards increasing ease and reduced stress as familiarity with the PSS increased. CONCLUSIONS A substantial reduction in pre- and intra-operative times, decreasing to a total of 115 min, was demonstrated. RA-MP was positively anticipated by the surgeons and led to no hand or arm strain while being more complex than manual MP

Occurrence and outcome of firework-related ocular injuries in Switzerland: A descriptive retrospective study.

BACKGROUND Firework-related ocular injuries (FWROI) are a major cause of preventable visual impairment. This study aimed to analyze the occurrence and outcome of FWROI in Switzerland. METHODS This retrospective multicenter study included patients with FWROI from seven centers in Switzerland from January 2009 to August 2020. Demographic information, type of injuries, medical and surgical treatments, the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at baseline and end of follow-up, occurrence and type of secondary complications, and duration of hospitalization were analyzed. RESULTS A total of 105 patients (119 eyes) with a mean age of 27.1 ± 15.9 years were included in the study (71.4% male patients; 29.5% underage). Most injuries occurred around New Year's Eve (32.4%) and the Swiss national holiday on 1 August (60.9%). The most common anterior segment findings were conjunctival or corneal foreign bodies (58%), whereas Berlin's edema was the most common posterior segment finding (11.4%). Globe ruptures were found in four patients. The mean BCVA in all patients at first presentation was 0.4 ± 0.8 logMAR and improved to 0.3 ± 0.8 logMAR at last follow-up. A primary surgical intervention was performed in 48 eyes (40.3%). Hospitalization directly after the trauma was necessary for 18 patients for a mean of 5.8 ± 4.1 days, and a total of 4.9 ± 7.6 follow-up visits were needed. CONCLUSION This study provides the first data on FWROI in Switzerland, which are helpful for further preventive and educational programs and comparisons with other countries

Boyunda Boğazlama Şeklinde Atipik Yaralanmaya Neden Olan Trafik Kazası Olgu Sunumu

Trafik kazaları sonucu ölüm adli açıdan hukuk sistemimizde önemli bir yer teşkil etmekte ve ölüm nedeninin açıklığa kavuşturulması gerekmektedir. Trafik kazaları sonucu ölümlerde çok farklı atipik lezyonlar oluşabilmekte ve bu lezyonların değerlendirilmesi otopsi esnasında bazı güçlükler arz etmektedir. Bu lezyonların oluşumunda kaza yapan aracın türü, hızı, kaza şekli ve araç içi güvenlik tedbirleri gibi birçok faktörler rol oynamaktadır. Olgumuzda bir trafik kazası otopsisinde saptanan boyunda kesici alet ile boğazlama sonucu meydana gelebilecek bir lezyonla benzerlik gösteren bulguların ayırıcı tanısında dikkat edilmesi gereken hususların önemi tartışılmıştır. Olgumuz trafik kazası sonucu olay yerinde hayatını kaybeden 70 yaşında bir erkek olgudur. Fırat Üniversitesi Hastanesi Adli Tıp Anabilim Dalı'nda yapılan otopside; boyun orta kısımda tiroid kartilaj superiorda boyun cildi, yumuşak dokuları ve kaslarında 8x3 cm ebadında yara kenarları yer yer düzenli yer yer düzensiz olan, boyun organlarından özefagus ve trakea ile boyun damarlarından sol vena jugularis interna ve sol arteria tiroidea süperioru ilgilendiren yaralanma olduğu tespit edildi. Olay yeri fotoğrafları incelenmesinde; kaza yapan aracın ön camında sağ ön koltukta oturan yolcunun kafasının dışarı doğru çıkmasına bağlı oluşan yuvarlak şekilli kırık olduğu görüldü. Trafik kazalarında çok çeşitli atipik yaralar meydana gelmektedir. Bu yaraların değerlendirilmesinde adli tıp uzmanları bazen çeşitli zorluklar yaşamaktadırlar. Bu nedenle trafik kazalarında otopsi öncesinde olay yeri inceleme bulgularının değerlendirilmesi ve adli tıp uzmanı tarafından keşif yapılması olayın açıklığa kavuşmasında önemli ölçüde katkı sağlayabilir. Anahtar kelimeler: Trafik kazası, olay yeri inceleme, adli tı

NON-BLOCKING SUPERVISORY CONTROL FOR INITIALISED RECTANGULAR AUTOMATA

We consider the problem of supervisory control for a class of rectangu-lar automata and more specifically for compact rectangular automata with uniform rectangular activity, i.e. initialised. The supervisory controller is state feedback and disables discrete-event transitions in order to solve the non-blocking forbidden state problem. The non-blocking problem is defined under both strong and weak conditions. For the latter maximally permissive solutions that are computable on a finite quotient space characterised by lan-guage equivalence are derived

Investigation of deaths related to methyl alcohol intoxication in İzmir: A 5-year retrospective study

Methyl alcohol consumption results in serious poisoning symptoms and even causes death, so it is not used in legal alcoholic beverages. We aimed to examine deaths due to methyl alcohol intoxication in our region through forensic autopsies performed in İzmir-Turkey to compare these data with international studies. A total of 13,701 autopsies performed between 2016-2021 were scanned retrospectively. 214 cases in which the exact cause of death was methanol intoxication were included in the study. All the cases were analyzed in terms of age, gender, date of death, place of death, length of hospitalization, methanol levels detected in blood and the vitreous humor, ethanol presence in blood, and pathological findings. The ratio of autopsies of the exact cause of death of methanol poisoning to total autopsies is 1.56%. Of these cases, 94.9% were male and 5.1% were female. The age range was 25–80 years, with a mean age of 53.4. According to the age distributions, the highest rate was 39.3% in the sixth decade. The highest number of cases was 129 (60.3%) in 2020. In the analysis of blood methanol levels, the concentration was found to be in the range of 0-642 mg/dl and the mean was 178 mg/dl. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in methanol poisoning cases associated with the economic and social problems experienced in Turkey. Our study showed that methanol poisoning deaths are especially common in men aged 50-60 years so this group is at higher risk of methanol poisoning. [Med-Science 2023; 12(4.000): 1324-30