Time-related morphometric studies of neurofilaments in brain contusions.

In forensic pathology age determination of injuries is of key importance. The purpose of the study was to analyze morphometrically changes in neurofilaments following the brain contusion and relate them to the length of the time of survival. To do this, the authors analyzed specimens of brains collected during medicolegal autopsies. According to the available literature, no such study involving material from deceased humans was conducted. The researched material was divided into nine subgroups (10 cases each) according to the time of death of persons: immediately at the crime site, 12 hours, 24 hours, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days, 6 days and 7 days after head trauma. Neurofilaments were immunohistochemically stained and evaluated quantitatively using the Met-Ilo computer application. The initial results were then analyzed statistically with the one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the least significant difference (LSD) tests. It was calculated that there are significant differences in numbers and area fractions of neurofilaments within 7 days after head trauma. It must be concluded that morphometric analysis of neurofilaments is a promising method but further studies are required.

The role of respiratory failure caused by congenital central nervous system abnormalities and the effect of ß-casomorphins in sudden infant death syndrome pathogenesis.

The aim of the paper is to discuss the role of respiratory failure caused by endogenous (both structural and functional) abnormalities in the central nervous system and exogenous food-derived opioid-like peptides in the pathogenesis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). By stimulating µ-opioid receptors, opioid-like peptides may suppress the tonic activity of the respiratory centre in the brain stem.

Angiogenesis in brain contusion.

In the forensic medicine, objective and, if possible, the most accurate determination of the age - the time of the brain contusion, has practical significance. In our previous work, we discussed the importance of the neuron cytoskeleton proteins - neurofilaments, in this area. The purpose of this paper is to present the possibilities of using the phenomenon of angiogenesis in the brain contusions, to determine its age, on the basis of previous studies in animal models and in human biological material. The current review of the literature showed no conclusive data that would allow use morphological changes in angiogenesis to determine the age of the brain contusion in forensic medical practice. For these reasons, it is reasonable to take a broader research on the human material.

Possibilities of post-mortem diagnostics, including immunodiagnostics, in cases of sudden death due to anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reactions.

Postmortem diagnostics of anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reaction as the cause of death in cases of sudden deaths without witnesses, as well as those in which circumstances of sudden disease and then death are known, seems to be very difficult. This is caused by the lack of characteristic macro- or microscopic changes to internal organs resulting from a short, or even very short time, that elapses from the action of the etiological factor till death. In the above mentioned cases it is often impossible to establish univocally the cause of death, despite considering information on the cause of disease and its clinical symptoms. On the basis of 2 cases of sudden deaths resulted from the intake of hazel nuts, and the administration of contrast agent before radiological examination, the authors discuss the usefulness of postmortem determinations of tryptase and IgE in blood for diagnostics of deaths resulting from anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reaction, respectively.

Neurofilaments and traumatic brain injury.

Objective determination of the time of brain contusion is of key importance in medicolegal neurotraumatology. Currently, the progress of immunohistochemistry allows the study of structural elements of cells including neurofilaments, i.e. neuronal cytoskeletal proteins possessing properties that could be used for determining the age of brain injury in forensic medicine. The purpose of this study was to review recently published literature with a focus on studies investigating changes which occur in neurofilaments after brain trauma, both in animal models and in human biological material. The review has shown a lack of data on temporal changes in neurofilament expression after human brain trauma which could be used for determining the age of injuries in forensic medicine.

[Group intoxication with 2-ethoxyethanol as an ethanol substitute]. / Grupowe zatrucie 2-etoksyetanolem jako zamiennikiem etanolu.

In this paper the authors presented the group 2-ethoxyethanol intoxication of 8 young men aged between 20 to 22. 50-100 ml of pure compound (diluted with water) was administrated as a drink. In this paper symptoms of acute intoxication to this compound were presented. GC-FID and GC-MS were used as diagnostic tools. The obtained results were compared with the data from available literature.

Haemorrhages in head tissues during the asphyxiation process.

Two rates of carbon dioxide flow into the termination chamber were applied for the euthanasia of rats. The classical phases of asphyxia were observed in both groups of animals although their course was prolonged in rats exposed to the lower gas flow. The haemorrhages were assessed histologically in the following structures: the pericranium, compact bone and diploë of the skull, sagittal suture, nape muscle and its attachment, and the dura. The haemorrhages appeared regularly in the sagittal suture in all cases from both experimental groups. The possible significance of this phenomenon for the forensic practice was pointed out.

Clinical and pathological importance of cagA-positive Helicobacter pylori strains in children with abdominal complaints.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori strains possessing cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA) in children and the intensity of clinical complaints and morphological changes of the gastric mucosa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of 80 children with gastrointestinal complaints was included in this study. Pathologists examined mucosal biopsy specimens from these patients. The urease test and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (MPCR) were used to identify H. pylori strains. RESULTS: In the group of children infected with cagA-positive H. pylori strains, fourth-degree gastritis was more frequent than in the group with cagA-negative H. pylori colonization. In histopathological assessment, infection with cagA-positive H. pylori was associated also with higher grades of inflammatory intensity and activity. CONCLUSIONS: Marked inflammation of the antral mucosa was significantly more frequent in children infected with cagA-positive H. pylori than in those infected with cagA-negative H. pylori, as assessed endoscopically and histopathologically. No specific symptoms for cagA-positive and cagA-negative H. pylori infection were observed.

[Hepatocellular carcinoma (CHC) in patients chronically infected with HBV]. / Carcinoma hepatocellulare (CHC) u chorych przewlekle zakazonych HBV.

42 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (CHC) in patients chronically infected with HBV are presented. These are 37 men and 5 women, aged 12 to 78 years. The underlying disease was liver cirrhosis in 38 cases and chronic active hepatitis in 4. HBV infection was confirmed by the detection of viral markers in serum or/and in liver tissue. 52 percent of patients were HBsAg positive and 92 HBcAg positive. In 64 percent of cases the course of HBV infection had been subclinical before the CHC was revealed. The first signs of neoplasm are not characteristic, as the concomitant liver cirrhosis may well justify them. In all patients the diagnosis of CHC was established with presence when manifest clinical symptoms were present according to advanced lesions in most of cases. For the estimation of the stage of disease, the OKUDA system was used. In 24 patients cytostatic treatment was applied. The liver artery embolisation was performed in two cases. The surgical treatment took place in 2 cases of monolobular tumours. The survival period of the non-treated and treated patients was: in the 1st group 2.5 and 7.7 mths, in the 2nd group 1.5 and 5.2 mths, in 3rd group 1.2 and 1.1 mths, and in the 4th group 1.0 and 2.5 mths, respectively. In the groups 1 and 2 improvement of live comfort, due to Zubrod scale, was obtained. The results presented are the argument for attempts of treatment in patients from the 1st and 2nd groups.

[Histopathologic criteria of primary and secondary brain stem lesions]. / Uber histopathologische Kriterien primärer und sekundärer Hirnstammläsionen.

The brain stems from 52 corpses were microscopically examined. These cases died as a result of closed head injuries, which were clinically diagnosed and/or diagnosed postmortem as primary brain stem lesions. The morphological changes in these cases were compared with morphological changes in the brain stems of corpses who died from cerebral hemorrhage with additional secondary brain stem lesions. The examinations revealed acidophilic necrosis of the vessel walls in brain stem hemorrhages with fibrin impregnation of the vessel walls. Fibrin penetration to the perivascular space was the basic morphological marker that helped to differentiate between these two groups of cases.