Asunto(s)
Infecciones Oportunistas Relacionadas con el SIDA/tratamiento farmacológico , Fármacos Anti-VIH/uso terapéutico , Terapia Antirretroviral Altamente Activa , Encefalitis por Varicela Zóster/tratamiento farmacológico , Infecciones Oportunistas Relacionadas con el SIDA/patología , Encefalitis por Varicela Zóster/patología , Resultado Fatal , Humanos , Imagen por Resonancia Magnética , Masculino , Persona de Mediana EdadRESUMEN
War crimes perpetrated during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and in Kosovo prompted medicolegal investigations of mass graves as required by the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT). In spite of natural and methodological boundaries, these investigations were able to help to identify the victims and to discover the clues and evidence that are likely to support objectively the indictments brought by the ICT. However, the medico-legal data cannot explain everything. They should be exploited very carefully in order to avoid any error of interpretation.
Asunto(s)
Decepción , Testimonio de Experto/legislación & jurisprudencia , Revelación de la Verdad , Crímenes de Guerra/legislación & jurisprudencia , Causas de Muerte , Antropología Forense/legislación & jurisprudencia , Humanos , Tortura/legislación & jurisprudencia , YugoslaviaRESUMEN
A retrospective study was carried out on 130 fatalities due to gunshot wounds to determine whether the combined absence of bone damage and projectile in a skeleton is sufficient to eliminate a diagnosis of gunshot wound. Our findings showed that bone lesions were present in about 90% of the cases and were associated with intracorporeal projectile(s) in about 70% of the cases. The presence or absence of bone lesions seemed independent of the gun characteristics, the shot conditions, and the type of death. The cause of death was predominantly brain injury in cases with bone lesions whereas thoracic, abdominal, and peripheral vascular causes were more frequently encountered in cases without bone damage. We concluded that the combined absence of bone lesions and intracorporeal projectile (about 5% in our series) cannot exclude a diagnosis of death secondary to gunshot wounds.
Asunto(s)
Huesos/patología , Heridas por Arma de Fuego/diagnóstico , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Lesiones Encefálicas , Causas de Muerte , Niño , Preescolar , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Femenino , Medicina Legal/métodos , Humanos , Lactante , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Heridas por Arma de Fuego/patologíaRESUMEN
The weights of normal organs were retrospectively culled for the years 1987-1991 from 684 forensic autopsy cases. All the subjects were Caucasoid adults who died of external causes and showed no pathological changes. The weights of the following organs were available: the heart, the right and the left lung, the liver, the spleen, the pancreas, the right and the left kidney and the thyroid gland. The external parameters used for statistical correlation were the age, the height, the body weight and the body mass index (BMI) of the deceased. The weight of all the organs was shown to correlate with at least one external parameter, with the exception of thyroids in females. Organ weights decreased with age except for the heart and the thyroid, and increased in relation to body height and/or BMI. Except for the heart, the organ weight showed a better statistical correlation with the body height than the BMI. These updated tables of organ weight were compared with the data collected in previous studies. Such tables have to be regularly updated by pathologists in order to keep organ weight as a good criterion to be used in post-mortem diagnosis.