Aberrant abdominal umbilical arteries in VACTERL--association: a first case report.

A 38-week-gestational age male neonatal death from a 27-year-old-mother was reported. The autopsy found multiple congenital anomalies such as scoliosis of thoracic spine with 13 pairs of ribs, anal atresia, bilateral renal agenesis, and clubfeet. These anomalies were diagnosed VACTERL--association that must include at least three out of six principal anomalies of previously mentioned, e.g., (1) V--vertebral defects, (2) A--anal atresia, (3) C--cardiac anomalies, (4) TE--tracheo-esophageal fistula, (5) R--renal anomalies, and (6) L--limb abnormalities. In addition, other anomalies were also observed in this case, i.e., cryptorchidism both sides, jejunal diverticulum, and aberrant abdominal umbilical arteries.

Asbestos Bodies Burden in the Autopsy Lung Tissue from General Thai Population.

BACKGROUND: Chrysotile asbestos has been used in Thailand for over 30 years mainly in asbestos-cement wall and roof tiles. In non-exposed subject, asbestos fiber can contaminate in ambient indoor and outdoor environments. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the current prevalence and volume of AB load in general Thai population. METHODS: Lung tissues were obtained from 200 autopsy cases. Asbestos Bodies (AB) were identified with light microscopy using the tissue digestion and membrane filtration method. Results are reported as AB/g wet lung tissue. RESULTS: AB was identified in 97(48.5%) out of 200 cases. The AB level ranged from 0.19-14.4 AB/g wet lung. Most of the positive cases (99%) have less than 10 AB/g wet lung. Only one case exhibited a high value at 14.4 AB/g wet lung. Age, gender, occupation and hometown were found to have no effect on AB burden in autopsy lung tissue from this study. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of AB in autopsy lung tissue from general Thai population is 48.5% and the AB level ranges from 0-14.4 AB/g wet lung in consistent with non-occupational asbestos exposure level regarding several reference reports.

Entrance and exit wounds of high velocity bullet: An autopsy analysis in the event of dispersing the mass rally in Bangkok Thailand, May 2010.

Fatal mass casualties by high velocity bullets (HVBs) are rare events in peaceful countries. This study presents 27 forensic autopsy cases with 32 shots fired by 5.56×45mm. HVB (M-16 rifle bullets) during the dispersing the mass rally in Bangkok Thailand, May 2010. It was found that twenty-three (71.88%) typical entrance HVB wounds had round sizes less than the bullet diameters. Most entrance wounds had microtears but no collar abrasion since a HVB has a small streamlined spitzer tip and full metal jacket. For exit wounds, there were various sizes and shapes depending on which section of wound ballistics presented when the bullet exited the body. If a bullet exited in the section of temporally cavity formation, there would be a large size exit wound in accordance with the degree of bullet yaw. This is different from civilian bullets whereby the shape looks like a cylindrical round nose and at low velocity that causes entrance wounds with a similar size to the bullet diameter and is usually round or oval shape with collar abrasion. The temporary cavity is not as large as in a HVB so exit wounds are not quite as large and present a ragged border compared to a HVB. We also reported 9 out of 32 shots (28.13%) of atypical entrance wounds that had various characteristics depending on site of injury and destabilization of bullets. These findings may be helpful to forensic pathologists and to give physicians, who need to diagnose HVB wounds, more confidence.