[Sports-related concussions: are we (fully) aware of the consequences?]. / Commotions cérébrales dans le sport: est-on (pleinement) conscient des conséquences?

Contact sports and sports with high risk of head traumatism are increasingly becoming more popular. This trend leads to a 60% increase of sport-related concussions in the decade. It is therefore important to summarize the current knowledge in this field (diagnosis, risk factors...) in order to help clinicians to improve this pathology management. Short and long term consequences are too often minimized by clinicians, while related clinical disorders should not be neglected (e.g. headaches, cognitive troubles, vestibular troubles, depression...). Complications risks are directly linked to the number of concussions or if patients return to play before complete recovery. Correct knowledge of symptoms and of the various assessment tests are consequently therefore important to know in order identity and tackle long term complications of sport-related concussions.

[Medical death certificate]. / Certificat médical de décès.

The death certificate is a complex diagnostic procedure for the first medical responders (or general practioners) and requires a complex intellectual process. This article provides a practical and critical approach to the death certificate (modèle IIIc) which must be completed in the best way. The authors strongly emphasized the differences between violent death and natural death, keystone of the medicolegal approach and as a possible starting point of criminal investigations.

[Ignored homicides]. / Homicides ignorés.

Forensic medicine is a fundamental science for a good evolution of the law and a serious protection of citizens. This science is also inextricably linked to public health. As basic discipline, we consider useful to revisit homicides which escape the investigators'sagacity and especially to know the reasons of this missing. Forensic high quality depends on respect of the crime scene, through specialized training and above all the recognition of this crucial discipline in our contemporary society.

[About medical accidents and their medicolegal implications. Information and consent]. / Réflexions sur l'accident médical et ses implications médico-légales. Le consentement eclairé.

Medical practice today is not simple because of various factors impinging on the doctor-patient relationship. The concept of consent arises from the ethical principle of patient autonomy and basic human rights. It is also the rule of law (Civil Code article 16-3) that guarantees the patient's right and freedom to decide what should or should not happen to his/her body and to gather information before undergoing a test/procedure/surgery. No one else has the right to coerce the patient to act in a particular way. The authors after a reflexion about medical accidents and their medicolegal implications, discuss the means to display in order to provide to the patients the adequate information about their disease and proposed treatment, therefore protecting the medical practitioner from the consequences of insufficient or ill information.

[Medical certificates in occupational accidents, in common law and social affairs]. / Les certificats médicaux en accidents du travail, en droit commun et en matière sociale.

Physicians are asked to complete certificates within their profession. These certificates relate to various aspects of an individual's life, from birth to the end of life. The nature of requests is striking by its diversity. As a first step, the authors recall the outline of a certificate and its structure, as well as traps, hazards and risks to avoid. In a second step they describe three specific situations for the certificate: in the context of work accidents, common law accidents and social matters. All materials can not be treated in this space, so they refer the reader to the main bibliographic sources useful in this matter.

[Interfamilial violence, medicolegal and ethical aspects]. / Les aspects médico-légaux et déontologiques des violences intraconjugales.

Domestic or interfamilial violence--which is certainly not confined to disadvantaged social or cultural classes--is a process in which one partner carries against his spouse within the framework of private and privileged relationship (marriage, cohabitation, etc.), aggressive, violent and destructive behavior. All sectors of society are affected, whether urban or rural, and regardless of education or ethnic origin or religion. Such violence particularly affects women, but there are also violence perpetrated against men. This violence can take many forms, but we will only consider here the forensic clinical aspects, emphasizing the relevant legislation and medical ethics.

[Forensic approach of infanticide and neonatal death]. / Approche medico-légale de l'infanticide et du décès en période néonatale.

The foetal of neonatal death brings up many questions as well on the physiopathological level as on the medico-legal one. We consider here the various natural and violent origins which allow understanding this difficult forensic activity. The approach of forensic anthropology and recent medical techniques (X-rays and echography) are also studied in order to be helpful to the medical examiner.

[Guidelines in mass disaster victims identification through the Tsunami experience (December 26, 2004)]. / Gestion de l'identification des victimes lors de catastrophes majeures. L'expérience du Tsunami du 26 décembre 2004.

The adequate management of a victim's identification must go through an essential rigour in the applied methodology. This is all the more necessary when you face a mass disaster such as the Tsunami of December 26, 2004. We will explain in this presentation how the DVI Belgian Team, in close collaboration with the other International Teams, proceeded in January 2005, adopting real guidelines, in strict accordance with the Interpol fixed ones. We will review the various stages of our work, paying special attention to the fingerprints, the examination of clothes, jewels and specific objects, but also to the external and internal examinations of the corpses, the odontological and anthropological approaches and the systematic DNA samplings. Both rigour and application of the Interpol international conventions allow such a systematic approach. Only this optimal procedure can guarantee the best identifications of numerous victims.

[Report and death certificate]. / Constat et certificat de décès.

The death certificate is a document which must be completed by the medical practitioner who examines the deceased person and it could be a valuable statistical tool. This approach is to be highly qualified in as much as an external examination of the body is often insufficient to make a valid diagnosis. The too rare recourse to autopsy--clinical as well as medico-legal--also does not provide clarification to these data. We try to highlight some medico-legal reflexes essential to good medical practice.

Hand skin reconstruction from skeletal landmarks.

Many studies related to three-dimensional facial reconstruction have been previously reported. On the other hand, no extensive work has been found in the literature about hand reconstruction as an identification method. In this paper, the feasibility of virtual reconstruction of hand skin based on (1) its skeleton and (2) another hand skin and skeleton used as template was assessed. One cadaver hand and one volunteer's hand have been used. For the two hands, computer models of the bones and skin were obtained from computerized tomography. A customized software allowed locating spatial coordinates of bony anatomical landmarks on the models. From these landmarks, the spatial relationships between the models were determined and used to interpolate the missing hand skin. The volume of the interpolated skin was compared to the real skin obtained from medical imaging for validation. Results seem to indicate that such a method is of interest to give forensic investigators morphological clues related to an individual hand skin based on its skeleton. Further work is in progress to finalize the method.