[the Liland case. The medical-legal declarations]. / Lilandsaken. De rettsmedisinske erklaeringene.

On the basis of new medico-legal experts' opinions the Norwegian High Court decided in the Liland case that the original medico-legal experts had been mistaken. The prosecution wanted the High Court to hear the experts, but this request was rejected. The High Court's decision led to acquittal of Liland who had been convicted 24 years earlier of a double murder. With the support of seven British and two German forensic pathologists it is maintained that the original experts were right. This does not mean that a standpoint has been taken as to who could have committed the crime.

Bone strength in infants.

The results from a study of bone strength in normal infants is presented. The fibular bones of infants dying from SIDS were tested mechanically by a three-point bending test and the behaviour of the bony structure determined by measuring several variables. Correlations between these variables and infant age, length, weight and length of fibular bones were found and base-line values for bone strength established.

[Reliability of Norwegian suicide statistics]. / Påliteligheten av den norske selvmordsstatistikken.

New laws have radically changed the registration procedure of suicides in Norway, and a new Death Certificate Form makes it more difficult for doctors to cover up a suicide. The changes in the registration procedure may be responsible for a substantial part of the alarming rise in the Norwegian suicide rate from the 60's to the 80's. The Norwegian and the Danish suicide rates from the early 60's are not at all comparable. Neither are the Norwegian rates of the 60's comparable to those of the 80's. A comparison between suicide rates in different countries is near to worthless without an intimate knowledge of the basis for the diagnosis of suicide in the countries concerned.

Sudden death from asthma.

Deaths from asthma investigated by the Department of Forensic Medicine, The Gade Institute, University of Bergen during the period 1977-1986 were recorded. There were 11 cases with information in the police report of the use of pressurised bronchodilating aerosols prior to death. Seven of the victims were found with the aerosol in the hand or close by the body. Overdosage due to excessive inhalation were suspected in several of the victims. The possibility of side effects due to overuse is discussed. Other mechanisms of death are also discussed.

The fjord murders.

The method used to locate the bodies of victims of a double murder and retrieve them from the bottom of the sea at a depth of 340 m is reviewed.

Seafaring bodies.

Cases involving two bodies that had drifted for at least 500 km on the high seas are described.

An explosive decompression accident.

Four divers in a compression chamber system were suddenly decompressed from 9 atm to 1 atm. One of the divers was about to close the door between the chamber system and the trunk when the accident happened. He was shot out through the door and severely mutilated. The three others died on the spot. The autopsy results are described. The most conspicuous finding was large amounts of fat in the large arteries and veins and in the cardiac chambers, as well as intravascular fat in the organs, especially the liver. This fat can hardly have been embolic, but must have "dropped out" of the blood in situ. It is suggested that the boiling of the blood denatured the lipoprotein complexes, rendering the lipids insoluble.

Changes in autopsy profile--1975 and 1984.

In 1975 diseases of the circulatory system were the major cause of death in our hospital autopsies, with neoplasia a poor second. In 1984 the situation was the reverse. The reduction in diseases of the circulatory system was due mainly to that in cerebrovascular cases, deaths from coronary artery disease being unchanged. The increase in neoplasia affected older women in particular, who died from less common types of cancer. It is suggested that these patients may have escaped death from cerebrovascular disease and avoided cancers that usually kill in middle age, to die later of other age-related types that were less common in 1975. The present findings emphasize the importance of recognizing and adjusting to a changing spectrum of disease that is developing in the ageing population found in a West European country.

Subependymoma and unexpected death.

A previously healthy 53-year-old man died suddenly and unexpected. The main finding at the post mortem examination was a large 4th ventricle subependymoma, a rare brain tumour related to the ventricles of the brain. The salient features of subependymoma are described with emphasis on the microscopic picture and distinction from subependymal giant cell astrocytoma, as the tumour harboured large, bizarre astrocytes. Coronary atherosclerosis and mild cardiac hypertrophy were present as the only pathologic changes outside the central nervous system. The cause of death is discussed in light of earlier reports on brain tumours and sudden fatal incidents.