Strategy of the Causes of Death of Dependents / 法医学杂志

Objective To discuss the methods and strategies to identify the causes of dependents' deaths, as well as provide the experiences that can be used for reference and scientific basis for the forensic identification of the potentially growing deaths of the same kind in the future. Methods The 13 cases concerning death of dependents accepted by Sun Yat-sen University Forensic Center were collected, and the basic information of the dependents were statistically described. The nutritional status, environmental condition and medical care condition were evaluated according to dietary energy, living space, environment and medical treatment condition. Results Among the 13 dependents, there were 11 males and 2 females, with the oldest 74 and the youngest 9 and dwelling time was from 0.4 to 5.6 years. Forensic pathological examination showed that 13 dependents had infectious diseases and 11 were severely dystrophic. There were no fatal mechanical injuries or poisoning in dependents. Molecular pathological screening of 4 cases revealed no pathogenic variants of sudden death susceptible genes. The poor status of the diet, nutrition, living environment and medical care of these dependents were discovered. The direct cause of death of all 13 dependents was identified to be disease. The lack of nutrition, poor living environment and lack of medical care were thought to play a dominant role in causing the deaths of 12 dependants. Conclusion The death identification should follow the judicial procedure. In identification of the causes of death and analysis of the proportion of the affecting factors resulting in death, all factors, including nutrition,environment, medical care, injury and diseases, need to be considered.

Death caused by anaphylactic shock: a forensic pathological analysis of 142 cases / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the forensic pathological features of death caused by anaphylactic shock.@*METHODS@#One hundred and forty-two death cases of anaphylactic shock were retrospectively analyzed. The IgE level in the serum of anaphylactic shock cases were statistically compared with that of 62 non-anaphylactic shock cases.@*RESULTS@#Most cases (77.46%) of anaphylactic shock death occurred in the medical institutes, with intravenous drug administration accounting for 53.53% of anaphylactic shock death. β-Lactam antibiotics, glucocorticoid and herbal medications were responsible for a significant proportion of such cases. Although characteristic histopathological changes were absent in vast majority of these anaphylactic shock cases, the differences of IgE levels in the serum between anaphylactic shock group and non-anaphylactic shock group were statistically significant (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Combined information including clinical data, autopsy results, IgE level, and other specific test results should be evaluated together in the forensic pathological diagnosis of anaphylactic shock.

Sudden death caused by aortic dissection: 63 cases of forensic pathological analysis / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the cause of death, clinical manifestations and forensic pathological features of death cases caused by aortic dissection.@*METHODS@#Sixty-three cases of aortic dissection were selected from forensic medical center, Sun Yat-sen University from 2001 to 2011 and retrospectively analyzed.@*RESULTS@#The patients were mostly young and middle-aged male, aged from 30 to 49 years old. The DeBakey type II was the most common pathological type and the main cause of death was pericardial tamponade. The most common symptom was abdominal pain. However, the location of aorta dissection did not always correlate with the location of pain. Some cases showed no obvious clinical symptoms. The rupture was usually located in ascending aorta with atherosclerosis and pathological changes of hypertension.@*CONCLUSION@#It is significant for diagnosis and evaluation the cause of death of aortic dissection by knowing the clinical symptoms and forensic pathological features.

KCNQ1, KCNH2, KCNE1 and KCNE2 potassium channels gene variants in sudden manhood death syndrome / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate KCNQ1, KCNH2, KCNE1 and KCNE2 gene variants in the cases of sudden manhood death syndrome (SMDS).@*METHODS@#One hundred and sixteen sporadic cases of SMDS and one hundred and twenty-five healthy controlled samples were enrolled. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples. Gene variants of KCNQ1, KCNH2, KCNE1 and KCNE2 were screened by direct sequencing.@*RESULTS@#A total of 14 mutations and 14 SNP were detected. Two non-synonymous mutations of them were newfound. There was no non-synonymous mutation found in the control group.@*CONCLUSION@#There are KCNQ1, KCNH2, KCNE1 and KCNE2 gene variants found in Chinese SMDS cases. KCNQ1, KCNH2, KCNE1 and KCNE2 gene mutation may correlate partly with the occurrence of some cases of the SMDS in China.

New improved approaches for DYS385 detection / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To establish more sensitive methods for detection of DYS385 in routine forensic casework.@*METHODS@#The primers recommended by Genome Database (GDB) and Schneider were used to amplify DYS385 respectively. Then, a semi-nested PCR of DYS385 was designed by using the two different primers as outer and inner primer. A series of experiments were carried out to achieve good result by adjusting the ratio of outer/inner primer and optimizing the PCR condition.@*RESULTS@#It showed that an overall 112 bp shorter DYS385 fragments and better electrophoretic separation were obtained by using primer2B. By using the semi-nested PCR approach, the shorter specific DYS385 fragments could be amplified and detectable DNA amounted to 50 pg.@*CONCLUSION@#This method is 20 fold more sensitive than the ordinary method.