Berg von Linde, Maria

Wingren, Carl Johan

English

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITYPO Box 117221 00 Lund+46 46-222 00 00Deaths caused by Single Stab Injuries to the Trunk - Homicide or Suicide?Berg von Linde, Maria; Wingren, Carl Johan2021Document Version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordLink to publicationCitation for published version (APA):Berg von Linde, M., & Wingren, C. J. (2021). Deaths caused by Single Stab Injuries to the Trunk - Homicide orSuicide?. Poster session presented at Deutschen Gesellschaft für rechtsmedizin, München, Germany.Total number of authors:2Creative Commons License:UnspecifiedGeneral rightsUnless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply:Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authorsand/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by thelegal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private studyor research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portalRead more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will removeaccess to the work immediately and investigate your claim.Deaths caused by Single Stab Injuries to the Trunk - Homicide or Suicide? Maria Berg von Linde, MD, Department of Forensic Medicine in Lund, Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine, Sweden, email: maria.bergvonlinde@rmv.seCarl Johan Wingren, MD, PhD, Department of Forensic Medicine in Lund, Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine and Lund University, SwedenUsing the Swedish forensicautopsy register, weidentified 75 homicidesand 38 suicides that diedbetween 2010 and 2019following a single stabinjury to the trunk.Logistic regression modelswere performed.We identified variables with conclusive associations to homicide, namely victim aged 20-44years, scene of death located outdoors, injury affecting bone/cartilage of the ribcage, injuryinvolving vasculature and positive alcohol results (table 1). The majority of all the stabinjuries were located to the anterior thorax, from which a large proportion were located atthe left side (figure 1 and 2). There were no suicidal stab injuries located axillary or posterior.We were able to reproduce several findingsfrom previous research on single stab injuries(1)(2). The variables with conclusiveassociations to homicide could be of value indetermining the manner of death in cases ofsingle stab injury to the trunk.We also attempted to use variables to framea victim profile. If the following criteria weremet, the victim showed a 58.7% sensitivityand 92.1% specificity of being subjected tohomicide:A weakness of the study is the smallpopulation and thereby low statistical powerof some analyses. Therefore, further researchbased on larger case series is needed.To identify the manner ofdeath in single stab injuriesis a challenge for forensicpathologists. Previouscomparative studies (1)(2)are limited.We aimed to definevariables to differentiatebetween homicidal andsuicidal deaths in singlestab injuries to the trunk.1. Karlsson T. Homicidal and suicidal sharp force fatalities in Stockholm, Sweden. Orientation of  entrance wounds in stabs gives information in the classification. Forensic Sci Int. 1998;93(1):21–32.2. Burke MP, Baber Y, Cheung Z, Fitzgerald M. Single stab injuries. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2018;14(3):295–300.Pictures: https://pixabay.com/sv/vectors/brottsplats-död-märken-person-30112/,and https://pixabay.com/sv/vectors/blad-skarp-stål-skära-hushåll-kök-152317/Variable (reference) Homicide OR (95% CI)20-44 years (45-65 years) 2.77 (1.09-7.04)Found outdoors (victim´s home) 15.74 (5.09-48.72)Injury affecting the ribcage (intercostal space) 4.34 (1.71-10.99)Injury involving vessel (not involving vessel) 8.28 (2.67-25.64)Positive alcohol results (negative alcohol) 8.14 (2.85-23.7)Table 1. Variables with conclusive associations to homicide Results Discussion and conclusionIntroductionFigure 1. Location of homicidal stabs Figure 2. Location of suicidal stabs 6.7%8.0%46.7%6.7%6.7%4.0%5.3%2.7%12.0%1.3%5.3%5.3%5.3%5.3%2.6%76.3%male<=65 yearspositive ethanol/narcoticsnot found in victim´s homeMethod

Deaths caused by Single Stab Injuries to the Trunk - Homicide or Suicide?

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Deaths caused by Single Stab Injuries to the Trunk - Homicide or Suicide?

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