Penetrating craniocerebral injury caused by bladed weapons: Three homicide cases.

Penetrating craniocerebral injuries caused by a bladed weapon are rare events in western countries and often occur in the course of assault. We studied all homicide-related cases of cranial and brain injuries caused by bladed weapons that were seen at the Medicolegal Institute of Marseille over a 5-year period from 2014 to 2019. We found that such injuries are exceptional.

Does the medical autopsy still have a place in the current diagnostic process? A 6-year retrospective study in two French University hospitals.

Medical autopsies have been in considerable decline for several decades, in France and worldwide. We aimed to determine whether a medical autopsy still currently has a role to play in diagnosis, by analyzing its performance and diagnostic limitations. This dual-centre retrospective descriptive study included all medical autopsies performed in the university hospitals of Lille and Marseille, France, between January 2007 and December 2012.

Histological dating of subarachnoid hemorrhage and retinal hemorrhage in infants.

Background: Dating the traumatic event is usually done on subdural hematoma (SDH). After infant deaths due to Abusive head trauma (AHT) without SDH available, the magistrates still ask experts to date the traumatic event. To do so, the expert only has tools based on adult series of AHT.

Sharp bone trauma diagnosis: a validation study using epifluorescence microscopy.

Identifying tool mark and involved weapon in sharp force trauma is essential to understanding the circumstances of death. But accuracy and reliability of such expert testimony remains unknown, and validation studies are rare in forensic literature. That is why, we conducted an experiment in order to determine error rates and predictive values on identifying the right implement through different types of knife-inflicted trauma.

Combined treatment with a selective PDE10A inhibitor TAK-063 and either haloperidol or olanzapine at subeffective doses produces potent antipsychotic-like effects without affecting plasma prolactin levels and cataleptic responses in rodents.

Activation of indirect pathway medium spiny neurons (MSNs) via promotion of cAMP production is the principal mechanism of action of current antipsychotics with dopamine D receptor antagonism. TAK-063 [1-[2-fluoro-4-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)phenyl]-5-methoxy-3-(1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5-yl)pyridazin-4(1H)-one] is a novel phosphodiesterase 10A inhibitor that activates both direct and indirect pathway MSNs through increasing both cAMP and cGMP levels by inhibition of their degradation. The activation of indirect pathway MSNs through the distinct mechanism of action of these drugs raises the possibility of augmented pharmacological effects by combination therapy.

Pediatric medicolegal autopsy in France: A forensic histopathological approach.

The aim of postmortem medicolegal examination in pediatric death is primarily to establish the circumstances and causes of death and to exclude child abuse. In France, pediatric death is systematically documented by medicolegal or medical autopsy. In case of medicolegal autopsy, the complementary examinations, requested and financed by justice, are rarely limited to a histopathological examination.

[Sudden death of a young man as late sequelae complicating a pediatric disease: About a case].

In France, sudden death is responsible every year for 40,000 deaths. The most frequent etiology is cardiac disease. Atheromatous-related pathology is the most common etiology beyond 35, but cardiomyopathies and channelopathies are responsible for a significant number of deaths in young adults.

Defective glutamate and K+ clearance by cortical astrocytes in familial hemiplegic migraine type 2.

Migraine is a common disabling brain disorder. A subtype of migraine with aura (familial hemiplegic migraine type 2: FHM2) is caused by loss-of-function mutations in α2 Na(+),K(+) ATPase (α2 NKA), an isoform almost exclusively expressed in astrocytes in adult brain. Cortical spreading depression (CSD), the phenomenon that underlies migraine aura and activates migraine headache mechanisms, is facilitated in heterozygous FHM2-knockin mice with reduced expression of α2 NKA The mechanisms underlying an increased susceptibility to CSD in FHM2 are unknown.

Tissue microscopic changes and artifacts in multi-phase post-mortem computed tomography angiography in a hospital setting: a fatal case of systemic vasculitis.

A 27-year-old man suddenly died in hospital of acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to severe systemic vasculitis. Multi-phase post-mortem computed tomography angiography followed by scientific autopsy of the thoracic and abdominal cavity and histology was performed, illustrating the advantages and drawbacks of such techniques. Imaging enabled us to examine the cranium, as the family refused cerebral dissection.

Epifluorescence analysis of hacksaw marks on bone: highlighting unique individual characteristics.

Analysis of dismemberment trauma aims at identifying characteristics of false starts and complete sections in order to identify the class of saw. Nevertheless, determination of the individual weapon remains a challenging task. We attempted to determine the unique characteristics of different blades within the same class of saws using epifluorescence macroscopy, a non-invasive technique, in order to establish an individual injury profile.

Beneficial effect of conversion to belatacept in kidney-transplant patients with a low glomerular-filtration rate.

Belatacept has been found to be efficient at preserving good kidney function in maintenance kidney-transplant patients. Herein, we report on the use of belatacept as a rescue therapy for two kidney-transplant patients presenting with severe adverse events after treatment with calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) and mammalian target-of-rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. Two kidney-transplant patients developed severely impaired kidney function after receiving CNIs.

Spine injury following a low-energy trauma in ankylosing spondylitis: a study of two cases.

We report two cases of spine injury following a low-energy trauma in persons with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and discuss the forensic considerations. A 60-year-old man presented with a wide anterior fracture of the superior endplate of T8 after an accidental fall down three wooden steps. A 93-year-old man presented with disjunction between C6 and C7 and 90-degree spinal angulation after a fall from a standing height or a fall from a bed.

Modeling and determination of directionality of the kerf in epifluorescence sharp bone trauma analysis.

Characteristics of sharp bone trauma can be extremely useful to determine the origin of cut marks and to provide information regarding the context of death. Using human ribs and clavicle bones, this study analyzes the characteristics of bone kerfs made by different bladed implements, thanks to epifluorescence macroscopy. This technique, which is a nondestructive tool that uses autofluorescence of bones, documents bone damage precisely with high resolution.

[Forensic scientist's implication regarding medical autopsies: experience in a French university hospital (CHU Toulouse)].

Unlabelled: Despite its progressive decline, clinical autopsy remains a useful diagnostic tool. In the French Toulouse University Hospital, a pathologist in collaboration with a forensic scientist performs theses autopsies since macroscopic time.

Aim: Our purpose is to present a retrospective study of theses autopsies since the beginning of this collaboration.

Specific infiltration pattern of FOXP3+ regulatory T cells in chronic histiocytic intervillositis of unknown etiology.

Introduction: Chronic histiocytic intervillositis of unknown etiology (CIUE) is a rare placental lesion characterized by an intervillous mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate of maternal origin. Although the mechanism and origin of these lesions are currently not understood, they appear to be related to an immune conflict between mother and fetus cells.

Aim: To clarify the inflammatory cell profile and evaluate the T regulatory lymphocyte (Treg) status in CIUE.

Deciphering the elusive nature of sharp bone trauma using epifluorescence macroscopy: a comparison study multiplexing classical imaging approaches.

Characterization of sharp-force trauma on human bones can be extremely useful in providing information regarding the nature and context of death. Nevertheless, in the identification of weapons used to cause sharp-force trauma and analysis of bone wounds, challenging tasks still remain. Current analysis attempting to dissect bone wound characteristics varied quite a lot and mixed different criteria, thus leading sometimes to conflicting results.

[Juvenile xanthogranuloma of the corneoscleral limbus].

An 18-year-old patient presented with a solitary limbal tumor on his left eye that had appeared and increased in size for 3 weeks. This mass did not display any extension into the anterior chamber on gonioscopy. Excisional biopsy by lamellar sclerokeratectomy was carried out and the lesion was sent for histologic examination.

Child abuse: practical application of autopsy, radiological, and microscopic studies.

A 17-month-old male infant died at home. The infant's right arm was immobilized because of a humeral fracture 1 month earlier. The circumstances of death appeared unclear to the police investigators and a medicolegal autopsy was carried out.

Primary sellar melanocytic tumor: report of new case and literature review.

Context: Primary sellar melanocytic tumors are extremely rare, and they can mimic hormonally inactive pituitary macroadenoma both clinically and radiologically.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe a new case of primary sellar melanocytic tumor, and place it in the context of published literature.

Design: This is a case report.