[Incorrect identification in forensic medicine (wrong conclusion): a case report]. / Adli tibbi uygulamalarda hatali tanimlama, yanlis karar: Olgu sunumu.

Correct identification of lesions in examined patients is as important in forensic medicine application as it is in the medical profession. However, general practitioners and clinicians often fail to give proper attention to the definition and recording of the lesions and clinical findings in patients. Additionally, the identification of the lesion is sometimes deficient or incorrect. This has hindered, particularly in traumatic events that are of a forensic nature, reaching accurate conclusions during the interpretative and legal phases. In this study, we describe the case of a nine-year-old boy admitted to the hospital following a traffic accident. During his evaluation, an ecchymosis "resembling a rail" on his chest was noted. Consequently, legal/judicial authorities suspected the child may have been exposed to violence or child abuse and he was referred to our department. Practitioners may contribute to inaccurate decisions/conclusions if they fail to give the necessary detailed attention during the forensic interpretation (detailed examination and recording of lesions) and judicial process or if they have insufficient knowledge on this subject. This case is submitted as an interesting example since it included the possibility of inaccurate conclusion and judgment.

Criminal and legal responsibilities in Tourette's syndrome.

Tourette's Syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by the presence of multiple involuntary motor tics accompanied by one or more vocal tics. Articles about TS and criminal responsibility and the restriction of civil rights are limited. A person with TS was evaluated to consider his criminal responsibility after swearing at a referee during a football game. He was also evaluated as to whether or not he was capable of professionally driving a service bus. Additionally, medico-legal situations regarding military service, obtaining a shotgun license and marriages of patients with TS were considered.

Identification of unknown bodies by using CT images of frontal sinus.

The aim of the study was to define a simple system for the identification of unknown bodies by using CT images of frontal sinus and to discuss whether it was worth to add measurements to the system or not. The system was including simple features as F (presence or absence of frontal sinus), S (intersinus and intrasinus septum) and S (scalloping), and named as FSS system. Measurements selected for the study were width, height, anteroposterior length, total width of two sinuses, the distance between the highest points of the two sinuses and the distance of each sinus to its maximum lateral limit. The study was conducted retrospectively on the paranasal CT scans of 100 cases (38 male and 62 female) who had no apparent sinonasal pathology. All the features and measurements were coded according to the system defined by the authors for each case and coded formulas were compared. At least 93% of the formulas could be eliminated for a case by using FSS system. The rate of success was increased to 98% by adding measurements. Contrary to objective criteria of FSS system, measurements were prone to bias. Therefore, in practice success rate would be expected to be lower than calculated. In the study population, instead of making 100 measurements, eliminating the most of the cases with FSS system and later discriminating the rest by pattern matching was seen logical.

Femoral and tibial fractures in a child with myelomeningocele.

Femoral and tibial fractures can occur from accidents, child abuse or pathological causes. It is often very difficult to distinguish the cause among those cases. Radiological diagnosis may be needed for clinicians and medical examiners in order to assist determining the reason of fractures. In this report, we submit a case with femoral and tibial fractures associated with myelomeningocele. This patient was diagnosed as child abuse by clinicians. On review it was decided that her fractures were not because of non-accidental injury. The values of bone mineral density of the upper limb were low and illness caused her fractures.