Evaluation of Factors Related to Mortality Caused by Firearm Injury: A Retrospective Analysis from Malatya, Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Firearm related injuries continue to increase throughout the world and they become the first or second cause of mortality in worldwide. The present study aimed to determine the factors that affect mortality in firearm injuries. METHODS: The patients which were admitted to emergency service between January 2011 and December 2015 due to firearm injuries, were reviewed from hospital records. The patients were evaluated in terms of their age, sex, event time, admission time, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), the reason of event, type of weapon, the region of the body that injured, department in which they were hospitalized, hospitalization duration and the relation between these parameters and mortality. RESULTS: A total of 174 patients (86.8% male, 13.2% female) were identified. The mean age of patients was 35.2 years and 30 patients (17.2%) died. Among the cases, 137 were attempted homicide (78.7%), 23 were accidents and the remaining 14 were suicides. The suicidal cases had significantly higher mortality rate than other causes (P=0.003). The most frequently used weapon was pistols (73.6%) and the events took place between 18.00 and 24.00 (36.2%) hours mainly. The injuries were mostly on extremities, however many of deaths were seen after head- neck injuries and the mortality rate of head and neck injuries was significantly higher than other regions (P<0.001). The mean of hospitalization duration was 9.1 days and it was 10.2 ± 11.7 days for survivors, 4 ± 7.3 days for died subjects. The hospitalization duration of died patients was significantly shorter than survivors (P=0.042). The GCS of died patients (4.4 ± 1.7) was significantly lower than those of survivors (13.3 ± 2.8) (P<0.001). The ISS score of died patients (49.7 ± 24.1) was significantly higher than those of survivors (13.6 ± 10.6) (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: It was determined that GCS, ISS, length of hospitalization, injuries due to suicide attempt, the department of hospitalization, injuries to head-neck regions affected mortality significantly.

Falls from height: A retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Emergency services manage trauma patients frequently and falls from height comprise the main cause of emergency service admissions. In this study, we aimed to analyse the demographic characteristics of falls from height and their relationship to the mortality. METHODS: A total of 460 patients, who admitted to the Emergency Department of Inonu University between November 2011 and November 2014 with a history of fall from height, were examined retrospectively. Demographic parameters, fall characteristics and their effect to mortality were evaluated statistically. RESULTS: The study comprised of 292 (63.5%) men and 168 (36.5%) women patients. The mean age of all patients was 27±24.99 years. Twenty-six (5.6%) patients died and the majority of them were in ≥62 years old group. The highest percentage of falls was at 0-5 years age group (28.3%). People fell mainly from 1.1-4 metres(m) level (46.1%). The causes of falls were ordered as unintentional (92.2%), workplace (8.1%) and suicidal (1.7%). Skin and soft tissue injuries (37.4%) were the main traumatic lesions. CONCLUSION: Age, fall height, fall place, lineer skull fracture, subarachnoidal hemorrhage, cervical fracture, thoracic vertebra fracture and trauma scores had statistically significant effect on mortality. The casualties died because of subarachnoid hemorrhage mostly.

Falls from height: A retrospective analysis / 世界急诊医学杂志（英文）

BACKGROUND:Emergency services manage trauma patients frequently and falls from height comprise the main cause of emergency service admissions. In this study, we aimed to analyse the demographic characteristics of fal s from height and their relationship to the mortality. METHODS:A total of 460 patients, who admitted to the Emergency Department of Inonu University between November 2011 and November 2014 with a history of fall from height, were examined retrospectively. Demographic parameters, fall characteristics and their effect to mortality were evaluated statistically. RESULTS:The study comprised of 292 (63.5％) men and 168 (36.5％) women patients. The mean age of all patients was 27±24.99 years. Twenty-six (5.6％) patients died and the majority of them were in ≥62 years old group. The highest percentage of falls was at 0–5 years age group (28.3％). People fell mainly from 1.1–4 metres(m) level (46.1％). The causes of falls were ordered as unintentional (92.2％), workplace (8.1％) and suicidal (1.7％). Skin and soft tissue injuries (37.4％) were the main traumatic lesions. CONCLUSION:Age, fall height, fall place, linear skull fracture, subarachnoidal hemorrhage, cervical fracture, thoracic vertebra fracture and trauma scores had statistically significant effect on mortality. The casualties died because of subarachnoid hemorrhage mostly.

Self-harm, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among college students.

Self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts are well represented behaviours in the general population of both developed and developing countries. These behaviours are indicative of underlying risk factors that show a strong interdependent correlation. In this study we attempted to define correlates for and prevalence of self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among Turkish college students. This 2006 study included 636 students from two Turkish state universities. Our results showed that the lifetime prevalence of self-harm was 15.4%, the prevalence of suicidal ideation was 11.4%, and the prevalence of suicide attempts was 7.1%. We uncovered correlates for self-harm, including low income, unsatisfying familial relationships, smoking, and alcohol, inhalant, and tranquilizer abuse. Tranquilizer abuse shared a dual role as a correlate for suicide ideation and as a means to attempt suicide. Additionally, we found that drug abusers and adolescents who practise self-harm presented the highest suicide risk.

Subvalvular aortic stenosis as a cause of sudden death: two case reports.

Sudden death is defined as a death that occurs suddenly, develops during an unpredictable course, and is due to natural or unnatural causes. Although there is no universally standardized definition on how "sudden" a sudden death is, WHO defines sudden death as a death that occurs within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms. The aim of this study is to present 2 rarely reported autopsy cases and to emphasize the importance of systemic autopsy at sudden death. On macroscopic examination, crescent-shaped, thick, fibrous membranes, located 5 mm and 3 mm away from the aortic valves, were detected. Fibrous membranes extended from the ventricular septum to the left ventricular outflow tract, thus apparently narrowing this region. Left ventricular wall and septum were slightly thickened, and there were scattered grayish-white areas of a small diameter. These became more intense in the septum and myocardium of the left ventricle on the anterior plane of the myocardial sections. In both cases, the aortic valves of were thickened and also markedly narrowed on one of them. In this case, the fibrous membrane adhered to the aortic valve and extended to the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve at one side. Both aortic valves comprised 3 leaflets. Other valves and coronary arteries showed no macroscopic pathologic findings. Microscopic examination of both cases demonstrated that the fibrous membrane comprising abundant collagen fibers was situated on the ventricular septum. Hypertrophy, moderate to severe interstitial fibrosis, and focal areas of scarring were observed in the specimens taken from the septal and ventricular myocardium. No abnormality was found on the conduction system examinations. Toxicologic analysis results in blood were negative. Based on the findings, membranous-type (discrete type) subvalvular aortic stenosis, diagnosed during the autopsy, was considered as the cause of sudden death in both cases.