ABSTRACT
We report a fatal case of Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome in a 64-year-old man. The diagnosis, suspected during the autopsy (performed 63 hours after death), was confirmed through the successful detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae DNA and antigens in samples (blood and liver) collected during the autopsy. These results conformed with blood cultures performed antemortem, which became available only the day after the autopsy. The case underlines the need to collect biological material (liver and blood samples) during autopsy for microbiological investigations, although the collection is performed a long time after the death, suggesting that a liver sample works for DNA and liver and blood work for Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen detection.
Subject(s)
Pneumococcal Infections/complications , Streptococcus pneumoniae/isolation & purification , Waterhouse-Friderichsen Syndrome/diagnosis , Adrenal Glands/pathology , DNA, Bacterial/isolation & purification , Fatal Outcome , Humans , Liver/microbiology , Male , Middle Aged , Splenectomy , Streptococcus pneumoniae/geneticsABSTRACT
An abandoned fetus with suspicious skin injuries was found dead, lying on the grass of a garden, near a private house. Suspecting infanticide, the prosecutor ordered a medico-legal autopsy. The cause of death was identified as a congenital malformation of the central nervous system such as hydranencephaly, and infanticide was excluded.
Subject(s)
Fetus/pathology , Hydranencephaly/pathology , Fetal Death , Forensic Pathology , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Infanticide , Lung/pathology , Male , StillbirthABSTRACT
This retrospective study analyses post-mortem examination data of 251 homicide victims recorded by the Brescia Institute of Forensic Medicine between the years 1982 and 2012. The following variables were considered: year, month and day of death; gender, age and nationality of the victim; type of injurious mean; cause of death; homicide-suicides events; multiple murders; scene of death; toxicological data. Victims were usually young (30% was in the 21-30 years class) and males (64%). Although the victims were mostly Italians (73%), from 1990's more and more foreign victims appeared, following the migratory flow that affected Brescia County. The offenders frequently used firearms to kill their victims (41%), in particular for multiple murders. Sharp instruments were used mostly by foreigners. The study also emphasized 20 homicide-suicide events, mostly committed between intimates and family members.
