The Abbreviated Injury Scale: application to autopsy data.

Twenty autopsy reports, comprising 1 fall, 1 cutting, 1 burn, 1 drowning, 1 strangulation, 3 gunshot wound, and 13 traffic fatalities, were scored by the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and the Injury Severity Score (ISS). The codes were adequate for wounds of skin and long bones, and for most wounds of viscera. The autopsy descriptions were more detailed than the coding criteria for craniocerebral, cervicovertebral and muscular trauma, and less detailed for thoracoabdominal visceral, and long bone trauma. Lung contusions and rib fractures received scores that seemed unduly high, possibly reflecting the greater sensitivity of autopsy diagnosis over clinical diagnosis for these lesions. Complete hinge fractures of the skull base scored 4 (severe), which does not reflect the almost universally lethal nature of the accompanying cerebral concussion, which was itself not codeable. AIS scores were low and did not seem to reflect the lethal outcome when the lethal mechanism was purely physiologic and without a striking morphologic derangement, as in instances of cerebral or cardiac concussion, compression of the neck, occlusive airway hemorrhage, and visceral herniation into an adjacent body cavity. The scores were similarly low when therapy was delayed or adverse. Low AIS and ISS scores in a fatality from blunt or penetrating trauma may be useful retrospective clues to the presence of purely physiologic death mechanisms or therapeutic problems.

Striatal dopamine, dopamine transporter, and vesicular monoamine transporter in chronic cocaine users.

Depletion of striatal dopamine (DA) has been hypothesized to explain some of the neurological and psychiatric complications of chronic use of cocaine, including increased risk for neuroleptic-precipitated movement disorders. We measured levels of DA, as well as two DA nerve terminal indices, namely, the DA transporter (DAT) and the vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) in autopsied brain of 12 chronic cocaine users. Mean DA levels were normal in the putamen, the motor component of the striatum; however 4 of the 12 subjects had DA values below the lower limit of the control range. DA concentrations were significantly reduced in the caudate head (head, -33%; tail, -39%) with a trend for reduction in nucleus accumbens (-27%). Striatal DAT protein (-25 to -46%) and VMAT2 (-17 to -22%) were reduced, whereas DAT determined by [3H]WIN 35,428 binding was normal. In conclusion, our data suggest that chronic cocaine use is associated with modestly reduced levels of striatal DA and the DA transporter in some subjects and that these changes might contribute to the neurological and psychiatric effects of the drug.

The medical examiner. When to report and help with death certificates.

Medical examiners perform autopsies on victims of criminal violence and such deaths must be reported to the medical examiner. Because few medical personnel are cognizant of the full extent of the types of deaths which must be reported and of the substantial noncriminal aspects of medical examiner services, this description of the Florida Medical Examiner System emphasizes these areas and deaths due to late sequelae of violence. Proper death certification is one aspect of medical practice in which most physicians receive absolutely no training; therefore the essential elements are briefly outlined.

Neck injuries: III. Ligamentous injuries of the craniocervical articulation without occipito-atlantal or atlanto-axial facet dislocation. A pathologic study of 21 traffic fatalities.

Craniocervical ligamentous injuries without dislocation of the occipito-atlantal or atlantoaxial motion segments have been described rarely if at all. Among 155 traffic fatalities were 21 persons with such injuries. Among the 21 fatalities were 20 alar ligament injuries, eight tectorial membrane injuries, and ten injuries of the subaxial cervical spine. All 21 had craniocerebral trauma, including twelve with skull fractures, seven with facial or mandibular fractures, eight with subdural hemorrhages, twelve with subarachnoid hemorrhages, seven with cerebral contusions, five with cerebral lacerations, two with midbrain lacerations, nine with pontomedullary lacerations, and four with spinomedullary injuries. The mechanisms of death was acute neurogenic shock in seven victims, acute neurogenic shock in combination with other physiological derangements in six, acute neurogenic respiratory arrest in three, brain swelling in two, and mechanisms unrelated to head and neck trauma in three victims. In six victims, the neck injury did not contribute to death. No conclusions regarding the biomechanical mode of injury are drawn.

Neck injuries: I. Occipitoatlantal dislocation--a pathologic study of twelve traffic fatalities.

Twelve of 155 persons killed in traffic crashes had occipitoatlantal dislocations. Nine were vehicular occupants, 2 were cyclists, and one was a pedestrian. The dislocations involved various combinations of lacerations of the alar ligaments, the occipitoatlantal joint capsules, the dura mater, the tectorial membrane, the rectus capitis muscles, and the suboccipital muscles. In 2 instances, an occipital condyle failed instead of the corresponding alar ligament, producing condyle fractures. Atlas ring fractures occurred in 3 instances. Axial and subaxial cervical trauma were uncommon. Facial or mandibular fractures occurred in a majority of cases, vault skull fractures were uncommon, and basilar fractures were absent. Pontomedullary brainstem lacerations occurred in 9 of the 12, and 4 had midbrain lacerations. The majority of the victims succumbed to acute neurogenic shock as the sole or the major mechanism of death. The biomechanical basis for occipitoatlantal dislocation is discussed, and the author suggests that distraction, in concert with variable combinations of extension, rotation, and posterior translation is responsible for occipitoatlantal dislocations.

Neck injuries: II. Atlantoaxial dislocation--a pathologic study of 14 traffic fatalities.

C1-C2 vertebral dislocations have not been commonly recognized at autopsy. Among 66 subjects with neck injuries, drawn from a series of 155 traffic fatalities, were 14 with injuries at the level of the atlantoaxial motion segment, ranging in age from 8 months to 93 years. Thirteen had sprains or lacerations of the atlantoaxial facet joints, and one had a healed C1 fracture. Six of the 14 had odontoid fractures. None had transverse ligament lacerations. Injuries of the alar ligaments and the tectorial membrane were frequent. Only 3 subjects had subaxial cervical injury. All 14 had evidence of impact to the head or neck. Four had fractures of the mandible or facial bones, and 5 had skull fractures. Subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages were found in 7 and 6, respectively. Brainstem lacerations were not uncommon, but only one had a pontomedullary laceration. Spinomedullary cord injuries occurred in 5. Acute neurogenic shock was the major mechanism of death in 9 of the 14, including 5 with major cardiovascular lacerations. Delayed effects of craniocerebral trauma accounted for the majority of the remainder. The biomechanical mechanisms are discussed.

Venous air embolism from head and neck wounds.

Air emboli in the chambers of the right side of the heart and in the pulmonary artery were documented in 16 autopsies representing shotgun and gunshot wounds of the head, traffic fatalities with head trauma, and one neck incision. The pathology of venous air embolism and its interpretation in the context of death investigation are discussed.

Factors affecting visualization of posterior rib fractures in abused infants.

Rib fractures frequently are encountered in abused infants and commonly occur in the posterior rib arcs. Fractures occurring near the costovertebral articulations are rarely identified radiographically in the acute phase, and callus formation usually is the first indication of injury. To assess the factors influencing the visibility of fractures near the costovertebral articulations in abused infants, 103 posterior rib fractures occurring in 16 abused infants were studied radiologically. The plain radiologic studies were correlated with the pathologic findings in 15 ribs from four patients. The limited visibility of fractures relates to (1) the frequent superimposition of the transverse process over the rib fracture site, (2) a fracture line that crosses at an obliquity to the radiographic beam, and (3) nondisplacement of rib fragments due to preservation of the posterior periosteum. Fresh fractures invisible on a frontal projection are clearly defined when the rib is viewed axially with postmortem radiography. These findings explain the reported superior sensitivity of radionuclide bone scans vs radiography in the identification of fresh posterior rib fractures. A knowledge of the factors influencing the visibility of these important injuries is useful in planning an appropriate diagnostic evaluation in cases of suspected infant abuse.

Diffuse malignant mesothelioma of pleura. Diagnosis and survival in 92 cases.

Clinical, radiographic, surgical, and pathologic findings and survival in 92 patients with diffuse malignant mesothelioma (DMM) of the pleura who were examined at the Mayo Clinic between 1950 and 1980, were studied retrospectively. With the use of defined criteria and ordinary tissue stains, the 92 cases were classified into the following histologic subtypes: purely epithelial, 42 cases; mixed, 29 cases; and sarcomatous, 21 cases. Eight of the sarcomatous cases were desmoplastic. Median survivals were 12, 5, and 3 months for the patients in the epithelial, mixed, and sarcomatous groups, respectively. Survival was significantly longer for patients with epithelial DMM. Women survived longer than men but more often had epithelial DMM. Early disease manifested as multiple discrete pleural nodules, predominantly on the parietal pleura. However, nine patients had a dominant mass. Radiographic signs especially suggestive of DMM were nodular pleural thickening, irregular thickening of interlobar fissures, a dominant mass, or decreased volume of the affected hemithorax.

Diffuse malignant mesothelioma of pleura: diagnostic criteria based on an autopsy study.

Sixteen unequivocal, diffuse malignant mesotheliomas ( DMM ) of pleura and eight diffuse pleural tumors simulating DMM , all from autopsied cases, were studied with hematoxylin and eosin, mucicarmine, diastase-periodic acid-Schiff ( DPAS ), colloidal iron, carcinoembryonic antigen, and keratin immunoperoxidase stains. Collagen production by tumor cells when identifiable was diagnostic of DMM and was found not only in sarcomatous and "biphasic" mesotheliomas but also focally in "epithelial" variants. In "epithelial" areas, a constant nuclear/cytoplasmic (N/C) ratio with variable cell size often imparted a distinctive appearance of regularity, and mucin-negative DPAS -negative vacuoles or ground-glass cytoplasmic zones always could be found. Most metastatic carcinomas featured a high N/C ratio; some but not all had mucicarmine-positive or DPAS -positive vacuoles. Stains for carcinoembryonic antigen and keratin did not discriminate between DMM and metastatic carcinoma. Distant metastases were present in 12 of the 16 DMM cases but were clinically occult in 11 cases.