[Recreational boating accidents--Part 2: Causes of accidents and deaths].

According to Naeve, forensic medicine also deals with medical topics concerning accidents associated with watercrafts. This field is not limited to the open sea but also refers to rivers and lakes. In the presented study, fatal boating accidents were investigated over a period of four decades.

Expression of heat shock proteins (hsp) 27 and 70 in various organ systems in cases of death due to fire.

The expression of heat shock proteins (hsp) increases in case of variable types of endogenous and exogenous cellular stress, as for example thermal stress. Immunohistochemical staining with hsp antibodies can visualize these stress proteins. Fifty-three cases of death due to heat and a control group of 100 deaths without any antemortem thermic stress were examined regarding hsp27 and hsp70 expression in myocardial, pulmonary, and renal tissues.

[Recreational boating accidents--Part 1: Catamnestic study].

Deaths on the water are common in the autopsy material of medicolegal institutes situated on the coast or big rivers and lakes (illustrated by the example of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Greifswald University). They mostly occur during recreational boating activities. Apart from hydro-meteorological influences, human error is the main cause of accidents.

Retrospective analysis of fatal falls.

Fatal falls are frequent and inhomogeneous events and affect every age. The criminalistic classification can often only be done on the basis of extensive investigations and the autopsy results. We retrospectively surveyed 291 cases of fatal falls on which a post-mortem examination had been carried out in the institutes of Forensic Medicine in Bonn and Greifswald.