The evaluation of doxepin concentrations in postmortem blood as optional cause of death.

The problems concerning an unstable data basis with regard to lethal Doxepin concentrations have been manifested based on a case about a 39-year-old man, who was found dead in his apartment with strangulation marks on his neck, for which a lethal Doxepin intoxication entered the differential diagnosis discussion. For a long time it has been known that postmortem redistribution leads to a falsely inflated concentration as measured in cardiac blood, while the concentrations in peripheral postmortem blood change comparatively little. Despite this, most of the current literature relies on published case report, which fails to mention the location of blood sampling, whereby it is fairly safe to assume that a central sample is intended.

[Lethal intravenous infusion of a wound antiseptic containing polyhexanide].

Polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) is considered to be highly histocompatible and is one of the most frequently used wound antiseptics. Only one case of intoxication has been reported so far. The present case of a lethal intoxication is the first fatal incident described where causality is substantiated by a temporal coincidence between application and ascertainable organ damage.

[Sudden death in the presence of systemic mastocytosis and urticaria pigmentosa].

Systemic mastocytosis is an extremely rare disease characterised by abnormal mast cell production and accumulation of mast cells in the bone marrow or organs, and to some extent also in the skin (urticaria pigmentosa). To date there have been no descriptions of death caused by systemic mastocytosis. The present first description of such a fatality is based upon a case of anaphylactic histamine shock, probably caused by the consumption of peanuts.

Immunocytochemical examinations of biological traces on expanding bullets (QD-PEP).

When a crime victim has been injured with several different objects, it is of central importance for the forensic investigation to be able to show which object caused which injury, especially if one of the injuries was lethal. In cases of bullet penetration wounds it is often not possible to find such evidence. However, immunocytochemical investigations can accurately match a victim's injury to a particular bullet path through the body.

[Immunohistochemical proof of amelogenin in teeth--a contribution to the evaluation of the age in the identification of unknown corpses].

When a corpse is found that cannot be identified, one of the forensic tasks is to determine how old the person was when she or he died. To solve this frequently asked question in forensic practice, the enamel protein amelogenin was marked immunohistochemically in 249 extracted teeth. Amelogenin is already produced during prenatal development and is gradually used up throughout life into old age.

[Visualization of biological traces on evidence by ninhydrin].

Because of possible contamination of samples with PCR inhibitors and to avoid the typing of mixed profiles the source material for forensic DNA investigations should be collected as directly and securely as possible from the evidence. This approach requires a detectability of the source material which is often not given. The procedure introduced here using selected cases enables visualization of DNA-containing materials on evidence and hence controlled analysis.

Growth/adhesion-regulatory tissue lectin galectin-3: stromal presence but not cytoplasmic/nuclear expression in tumor cells as a negative prognostic factor in breast cancer.

Background: The endogenous lectin galectin-3 can regulate cell adhesion and proliferation in vitro, thus prompting the examination of its clinical relevance in breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: Immunohistochemical processing of tissue sections (n = 273; drop-out rate 20.4%) was used for the assessment of galectin-3 expression.

[Immunocytochemical examination of biological traces on knife blades].

In cases of penetrating stab wounds by different knives it is highly relevant to prove which knife caused which injury, especially if one of the injuries was lethal. This is possible by immunocytochemical examination of cellular material remaining on the injuring blade because some organs have organ-specific antigen determinants such as alpha-l-fetoprotein in the liver cells or cardiac troponin I in the heart muscle cells, to which antibodies can bind. Even when penetrations occur through several layers of clothing, enough cells from the injured organ remain on the blade of a knife to allow immunohistochemical examination.

Evidence of multiple hepatitis virus infections in autopsied materials of intravenous drug addicts.

Injection of illicit drugs is an important risk factor for acquiring parenterally transmitted viral infections. To investigate the prevalence of viral mono- and co-infections in intravenous drug uses (IDUs) postmortem and to evaluate the risk of potential infection to personnel involved in medicolegal practice a total number of 59 known IDUs were tested during necropsy for serological markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as well as for the nucleic acids of the hepatitis B and C viruses, and the GB virus C (GBV-C), in blood and in the liver. Our findings showed that 90.

Two-tailed delimitation of the time of death by immunohistochemical detection of somatostatin and GFAP.

Delimitating the time of death becomes increasingly difficult and inaccurate, the further back it lays in time. To contribute to available techniques, pancreas and brain tissue from 500 corpses, whose time of death lay within 1 day and 23 days ±1 day, were immunohistochemically stained with anti-somatostatin and anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibodies. Somatostatin and GFAP are recognized as antigen by the employed antibodies.

Detection of colchicine by means of LC-MS/MS after mistaking meadow saffron for bear's garlic.

The accidental ingestion of plant material containing colchicines is a rare cause of lethal poisoning. The death of a married couple who mistook colchicines for Bear's garlic (Allium ursinum) and prepared the latter as a salad is the tragic topic of this article. After discussing the specificity of the histological findings, a chemicotoxicological method using liquid chromatographic mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) is presented.

[Quantification of human DNA from forensic samples via real time PCR by the help of a telomerase assay].

Quantitative data concerning the content of human DNA and the effect of PCR inhibitors in a sample would provide very important information within a forensic DNA analysis. With the help of real-time PCR it is possible to test DNA samples for these influencing factors. However, the amplified DNA segments detected by means of usual TaqMan DNA probes are longer than most of the short tandem repeats to be investigated.

First-pass metabolism of ethanol in human beings: effect of intravenous infusion of fructose.

Intravenous infusion of fructose has been shown to enhance reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide reoxidation and, thereby, to enhance the metabolism of ethanol. In the current study, the effect of fructose infusion on first-pass metabolism of ethanol was studied in human volunteers. A significantly higher first-pass metabolism of ethanol was obtained after administration of fructose in comparison with findings for control experiments with an equimolar dose of glucose.

[Fatal head trauma of an infant. Part II: Biomechanical reconstruction].

An 18-month-old child was hit on the head by a falling wooden sculpture (c 60 kg) and sustained a fatal craniocerebral trauma. The kinetics of the trauma could be accurately reconstructed. The child's skull was then modelled using the finite-element-method.

[An already archived latent fingerprint as a DNA source for STR typing in a murder case].

Former studies have shown that even a single skin contact, resulting in a latent fingerprint, can transfer enough DNA for genetic analysis. However, up to now latent fingerprints have usually not been used for DNA typing. In the present case the smeared trace of a hand was found in the suspect's car and archived.

Asphyxia due to pacifiers--case report and review of the literature.

Pacifiers and bottle nipples entail the risk of asphyxia when they are swallowed, self-made or have become porous, or when used by older children whose teeth and chewing musculature have developed beyond the suckling stage. A further danger lies in the various devices used to tie the pacifier to the child, as they can cause strangulation. On the basis of this first case of a 2-year-old biting off a piece of her pacifier and fatally aspirating it, we point to the dangers and security requirements related to pacifiers and bottle nipples, and give a review of the related literature.

[Reconstruction of a real car-pedestrian-accident. Part I: Generating an individual digital topographic image of the victim].

The aim of forensic biomechanics is the reconstruction of traumatic events based on the pathological findings in the victim's morphology, the accident traces and the car damages. The use of forensic documentation tools (e.g.

[Fatal inhalation of butane-propane gas].

Fatal intoxications with butane and/or propane are rare although the inhalation of such liquid gases in order to induce hallucinations is not uncommon amongst youngsters, the number of which is difficult to evaluate. Thus the possibility of gas intoxication should be taken into consideration in all cases of unclear death of youngsters, in which case the macroscopic and histological findings will be unspecific whereas the chemical-toxicological analyses, especially of the native brain, lung and liver tissue, lead to definite conclusions.

[Fatal craniocerebral trauma in a young child. I: Forensic documentation, model generation and geometric impact conditions].

The aim of forensic biomechanics is the reconstruction of traumatic events based on the pathological findings in the victim's morphology and on the traces and shapes of the traumatizing tools. The introduction of Streifenlichttopometrie into forensic science enables 3-dimensional and proportionally accurate documentation of the victim's body and injuring agent with submillimeter precision. The advantages of this method of documentation are the possibilities of producing animated models which correspond exactly to the body's shape and injury topography, and of ascertaining the physical parameters (centers of mass, moments of inertia) of the various body parts and the geometrical impact conditions for the reconstruction of the injury dynamics.

Computer aided shot reconstructions by means of individualized animated three-dimensional victim models.

In cases of lethal firearm injuries with indefinite indications concerning self-versus third-party infliction a computer enhanced reconstruction with the aim of an anatomical feasibility study can provide significant clues concerning the course of the traumatic event. To this end an exact three-dimensional geometrical model of the victim including all relevant anatomical data as well as the careful documentation of the injuries and a three-dimensional model of the characteristic outlines of the weapon true to scale is generated with the help of an animation program (POSER Version 4, Meta Creation, Egisys AG). With this animated digital three-dimensional model of the victim and the weapon a series of simulation sequences is created by variation of the body positions and the grasp of the weapon.