Pregnancy-associated Death - Clarifying the Cause of Death and Medico-legal Assessments in Accusations of Malpractice.

Background: Pregnancy-associated deaths are extremely rare in Germany. Most deaths are from natural causes, and a range of causes are possible.

Method: The deaths of 22 women who died of pregnancy-associated causes and who were autopsied in the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Justus-Liebig University Gießen between 1992 and 2016 were analyzed.

Malrotation syndrome resulting in fatal ileus in children.

Background: This report deals with two deaths of children involving intestinal volvulus, i. e. a pathological knotting and twisting of the mesenterial root on the basis of congenital malrotation followed by obstruction and extensive ischaenia.

[Sepsis due to fusobacteria in a young adult].

Fusobacteria belong to the normal population of the pharyngeal mucosa as well as the mucosa of the upper airways and the gastrointestinal tract. Infections are comparatively rare. The most common causative organism is Fusobacterium necrophorum.

Acute alcohol effects on neuronal and attentional processing: striatal reward system and inhibitory sensory interactions under acute ethanol challenge.

The acute influence of ethanol on cerebral activity induces complex psycho-physiological effects that are considerably more pronounced during acute ethanol influx than during maximal blood alcohol concentration (elimination phase). Despite the psychiatric and forensic relevance of these different ethanol effects, the underlying neuronal mechanisms are still unclear. In total, 20 male healthy volunteers were investigated each with three different experimental conditions in a randomized order using an intravenous ethanol challenge (40 g bolus infusion): during influx phase, elimination phase, and under placebo condition.