Research Progress on Molecular Changes in Pulmonary Hypoxia and Cause of Death Identification in Mechanical Asphyxia / 法医学杂志

Lung is the largest organ of the respiratory system. During hypoxia, pulmonary cells undergo rapid damage changes and activate the self-rescue pathways, thus leading to complex biomacromolecule modification. Death from mechanical asphyxia refers to death due to acute respiratory disorder caused by mechanical violence. Because of the absence of characteristic signs in corpse, the accurate identification of mechanical asphyxia has always been the difficulty in forensic pathology. This paper reviews the biomacromolecule changes under the pulmonary hypoxia condition and discusses the possibility of application of these changes to accurate identification of death from mechanical asphyxia, aiming to provide new ideas for related research.

Significance of Hypoxia-related microRNA for Estimating the Cause of Mechanical Asphyxia Death / 法医学杂志

Under hypoxia condition, microRNA （miRNA） can interact with transcription factors for regulating the cell metabolism, angiogenesis, erythropoiesis, cellular proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The biological processes above may play an important role in mechanical asphyxia death. This article reviews the regulating function of miRNA under hypoxia condition and the influence of hypoxia to biosynthesis of miRNA, which may provide some new ideas to the research of miRNA on determining the cause of mechanical asphyxia death in the field of forensic medicine.

Forensic analysis of 24 dismembered homicide cases in Shanghai / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the characteristics of the dismembered homicide cases in Shanghai and to provide the valuable guidance for forensic pathological practices.@*METHODS@#Twenty-four cases of dismembered homicides were selected from 2005 to 2012 in Institute of Forensic Science, Shanghai Public Security Bureau. The general information of the victims and suspects, cause of death, criminal motive, postmortem body parts, tools and information of discarding body parts were retrospectively analyzed.@*RESULTS@#Among the 24 dismembered homicide cases, victims were female in 16 cases, and suspects were male in 23 cases and were acquaintances in 22 cases. The main causes of death were mechanical asphyxia and traumatic brain injury. Most of the criminal motives were emotional disputes. The number of postmortem body parts was commonly from 20 to 30. The tools were mainly sharp instruments, including kitchen knives used in 20 cases. The postmortem body parts were discarded to different transregional areas, mainly using vehicles.@*CONCLUSION@#The dismembered homicide cases in Shanghai show the following characteristics: the number of postmortem body parts is in large quantity; the methods of dismembered corpse are complex and different; the job characteristics of suspects are difficult to determine; the distance from homicide scene is far and the vehicles are commonly used.

A suicidal hanging with unusual findings at crime scene.

A 42 year old male, was found hanging by a plastic rope in his unbolted bed room. The rope was found attached to two suspension points (one end attached to the window panel and the other side to the ceiling knob) and the middle part of it used for the binding of neck. There was no knot present in the ligature as the right hand was found holding the ligature loop for the purpose of constriction of neck .A towel was found covering the head and underneath the ligature material on the neck used for padding. Blood stain was present on the floor below the suspended body which oozed out from the haemorrhoids. He was holding the cloth, wore in lower half of the body up to the mid thigh label, which appreciated by the authors as cadaveric spasm that developed in his flexor muscles of left hand. Detailed autopsy, crime scene examination and police investigation supported the manner of death as suicidal.

Suicidal hanging: A prospective study.

The objective of this study was to focus on various factors associated with suicide by hanging at Chennai, India; with a view to identify the areas of intervention. A prospective study was carried out on 65 cases of death due to suicide by hanging which was received by the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Madras Medical College, Chennai, India, during the period of August 2008- July 2009. In the present study, 84.7%% of the cases were below the age of 40years, time of hanging in 50.8% of the cases was 3am-12noon, place of hanging in 95.5% of the cases was their residence, 92.3% were living with their family and 69.2% were married. Most frequent precipitating factors were marital unhappiness (33.8%), problems associated with organic disease (18.5%) and dowry harassment (16.8%). To reduce the incidence of suicides by hanging, there is urgent need to focus on these factors.

Positional asphyxia: An opinion of exclusion.

The process of normal respiration depends upon three vital components i.e. a patent airway, an intact surface for gas exchange and a normally working ventilatory apparatus. The positional asphyxia has been defined as asphyxia caused due to unusual position of the body which interferes with the breathing and thus pulmonary ventilation. We are reporting a case of an adult female, who under the influence of alcohol positioned herself in such a way which led her to death due to positional asphyxia. The internal and external findings were non-specific. Therefore the exclusion criteria were used to conclude that the death was due to positional asphyxia. The cases of positional asphyxia are difficult to diagnose because of the absence of any specific external findings. The internal findings found in such cases are also non-specific and can be found in any case of an asphyxial death.

The analysis of pericardial fluid in forensic practice / 法医学杂志

Pericardial fluid is a kind of serous fluid in pericardial cavity. Because blood undergoes postmortem changes such as autolysis and putrefaction, vitreous humor is limited,cerebrospinal fluid is easily mixed with blood, pericardial fluid, on the other hand, exists in a closed cavity and can be hardly contaminated by postmortem changes, and also is easily obtained. Pericardial fluid not only plays an important role in clinic practice, but also is widely applicable in forensic practice. This paper briefly presented the properties of pericardial fluid and its clinical significance. It reviewed biochemical changes in decedents died of heart diseases, drowning and asphyxia, and explored the significance in medico-legal investigation. Moreover, application of pericardial fluid in forensic serology, forensic toxicological analysis and other fields were also discussed. Pericardial fluid analysis may provide important information for determination of the cause of death with further investigation concerning forensic applicability of pericardial fluid.

Forensic medicine identification of manual strangulation: an analysis of 21 cases / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze and summarize the rule of manual strangulation, as well as to look for the key points of injury identification, in order to provide information for formulating and revising the identification regulations.@*METHODS@#Twenty-one cases of manual strangulation from 1963 to 2004 in Xiangfan were reviewed and analyzed according to the characters, symptoms and appraisements.@*RESULTS@#The majority of assaulters in manual strangulation was young adult male and often could find the counteracted wounds on them. The throttling mark reaction usually could be found in victims and the cardinal symptoms were contusion in throat and asphyxiation in ocular region.@*CONCLUSION@#The degree of injuries is mainly moderate and slight. There is some inadaptability in the current regulations.

Expression of HIF1-alpha on myocardium and lung in rats model of asphyxia death / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the expression of HIF1-alpha in heart and lung tissue died from asphyxia.@*METHODS@#The rats model of asphyxia death was constructed by hanging, different asphyxia groups and control group sets were made according the postmortem time (0,2,6,24 h), immunohistochemistry and half-quantitative RT-PCR methods were used to investigate expression of HIF1-alpha and mRNA changes on heart and lung tissue.@*RESULTS@#The positive staining of HIF1-alpha could be observed in the myocardium and lung tissue. Significant differences were found between the groups of asphyxia and their corresponding control group. HIF1-alpha expression was found in all the asphyxia groups while it was only expressed in the control groups of 2 h, 6 h and 24 h. Nucleic positive staining could be detected in all the asphyxia groups but none was found in the control groups. RT-PCR showed that the expression of mRNA between 0 h asphyxia group and 0 h control group were equal in both cardic muscle and lung, but elevated expression in groups of 2,6,24h compared to their control groups.@*CONCLUSION@#The nuclear positive staining of HIF1-alpha in heart and lung can be a special character of suffocation death.

The application of radiological imaging in the forensic pathology about cervical part / 法医学杂志

Multislice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are useful to analyze cervical injury. Especially in injury of skeleton and soft tissue, it has equal value with conventional autopsy. Even they can reparation some shortcoming consisted in the cervical part autopsy. In some difficult postmortem examination of decomposed, charred or highly infectious cadavers and in some religion country, they should be a useful alternative way to examine injury in cervical part of cadaver such as mechanical asphyxia, whiplash injury, vertebra injury, or vascular injury.

Is there relationship between pink teeth phenomenon and cause of death? / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the relationship between the pink teeth phenomenon and the cause of death as well as its significance in forensic medicine.@*METHODS@#Inspection method was adopted to observe the pink teeth phenomenon in different causes of death. Ten rats were selected for every experimental groups, which were then divided into two groups: Eight in fresh group with teeth pulled immediately, and two in decayed group with body decayed in water firstly. The teeth pulled from rats were immersed in 75% alcohol and observed at different immersion time.@*RESULTS@#In every fresh groups, pink teeth phenomenon was not observed when they were pulled immediately, whereas it emerged gradually after the teeth immersed in 75% alcohol, and the color showed distinct and constant four hours later. In decayed groups, Pink teeth phenomenon was observed immediately when teeth pulled, it became distinct and constant after one hour's immersion in alcohol. So it was more distinctive in the decayed groups than that in the fresh groups.@*CONCLUSION@#There is no significant connection between the pink teeth phenomenon and the cause of death, thus it may not be subject to forensic identification.

Determinantes morfológicos da ação do fogo nos pulmões em autópsias forenses / Autopsy-proven determinants of immediate firee death in lungs

Análise semiquantitativa do parênquima distal de pulmões obtidos em autópsia de vítimas de morte por ação do fogo e por sufocação, foi feita para avaliar as alterações em bronquíolos e tecido alveolar (ductos e alvéolos). A análise discriminante dos parâmetros obtidos permitiu classificação de 74 por cento / A semiquantitative analysis of the distal parenchyma in lung autopsies of victims of death by fire and death by suffocation, was done to evaluate the changes in membranous bronchiolar and alveolar tissue (alveolar ducts and alveoli). The discriminant parameters obtained permitted classification of 74 per cent of cases...

Strangulation injury, a fatal form of child abuse.

Strangulation is a common method of committing murder, though underreported in Indian literature. We managed a girl child, victim of child abuse who later succumbed to its neurological complications. This case report describes the clinical features associated with such injuries and complications which should be anticipated in such cases.

Asfixia perinatal moderada y severa: diagnóstico de lesiones cerebrales por ultrasonido / Perinatal asphyxia moderate and severe: diagnosis of brains lesions by ultrasonic

Se realizó un estudio con 40 recién nacidos a término en el Hospital "Dr. Domingo Luciani" de enero a obtubre de 1996 que presentaron asfixias perinatal moderada y severa. Se utilizó el ultrasonido cerebral como método diagnóstico de lesiones cerebrales y se relacionó con los grados de asfixia perinatal. En cuanto al tipo de parto, las formas no eutócicas, y de ellas, la cesárea fue la más frecuente (51 por ciento). En el 72 por ciento de los casos, hubo evidencia de sufrimiento fetal, la asfixia moderada fue la más frecuente. El ultrasonido cerebral se realizó en período neonatal precoz (4 ñ 1,73 días). De la población estudiada 22 recién nacidos (55,00 por ciento) presentaron lesiones cerebral siendo los hallazgos ultrasonográficos: edema (77,27 por ciento), asimetríca ventricular (22,73 por ciento) y hemorragia subependimaria (13,63 por ciento), siendo no significativa su relación con los grados de asfixia. Por lo que concluimos que se justifica el uso del ultrasonido cerebral en RN con asfixia perinatal en los primeros 7 días de vida y sugerimos la utilización de un transductor de 10 MHz para la detección precoz de lesiones en la superficie cortical