Development of prevention strategies against bath-related deaths based on epidemiological surveys of inquest records in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Sudden death in the bathroom (bath-related death) occurs more frequently in Japan than in other countries. To clarify the epidemiological characteristics of bath-related deaths, we reviewed inquest records of deaths in Kagoshima Prefecture from 2006 to 2019. We identified 2689 cases of bath-related death.

Epidemiological analysis of intramuscular hemorrhage of respiratory and accessory respiratory muscles in fatal drowning cases.

The postmortem diagnosis of drowning death and understanding the mechanisms leading to drowning require a comprehensive judgment based on numerous morphological findings in order to determine the pathogenesis and epidemiological characteristics of the findings. Effortful breathing during the drowning process can result in intramuscular hemorrhage in respiratory and accessory respiratory muscles. However, the characteristics of this phenomenon have not been investigated.

Association of Daily Home-Based Hot Water Bathing and Glycemic Control in Ambulatory Japanese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: To clarify the relationship between daily hot water bathing (HWB) at home and glycemic control in middle-aged and elderly ambulatory patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: We defined hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) as the main outcome. We set 7.

Primed neutrophil infiltrations into multiple organs in child physical abuse cases: A preliminary study.

Physical abuse of the elderly induces a massive primed neutrophil infiltration into the lung and liver through chemotaxis by interleukin (IL)-8, similar to cases of traumatic or hemorrhagic shock. Here, we used immunohistochemical analyses to investigate this infiltration in cases of physically abused children. In addition, we examined the expression of neutrophil elastase (NE) as the inflammatory mediator and α1-antitrypsin (AAT) as the elastase inhibitor.

Interleukin (IL)-8 immunoreactivity of injured axons and surrounding oligodendrocytes in traumatic head injury.

Interleukin (IL)-8 has been suggested to be a positive regulator of myelination in the central nervous system, in addition to its principal role as a chemokine for neutrophils. Immunostaining for beta-amyloid precursor protein (AβPP) is an effective tool for detecting traumatic axonal injury, although AβPP immunoreactivity can also indicate axonal injury due to hypoxic causes. In this study, we examined IL-8 and AβPP immunoreactivity in sections of corpus callosum obtained from deceased patients with blunt head injury and from equivalent control tissue.

Two different immunostaining patterns of beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) may distinguish traumatic from nontraumatic axonal injury.

Immunostaining for beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) is recognized as an effective tool for detecting traumatic axonal injury, but it also detects axonal injury due to ischemic or other metabolic causes. Previously, we reported two different patterns of APP staining: labeled axons oriented along with white matter bundles (pattern 1) and labeled axons scattered irregularly (pattern 2) (Hayashi et al. (Leg Med (Tokyo) 11:S171-173, 2009).

Temporal changes of the adrenal endocrine system in a restraint stressed mouse and possibility of postmortem indicators of prolonged psychological stress.

We investigated temporal changes of adrenal endocrine systems through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympathetic-adrenomedullary (SA) axis in restraint stressed mice. Restraint stress for 1 day to 3 weeks caused a significant increase in serum levels of ACTH and glucocorticoids accompanied with an increase in adrenal weights, indicating activation of the HPA axis. Reflecting the overproduction of glucocorticoids, adrenal cholesterol content decreased.

Forensic diagnosis of ante- and postmortem burn based on aquaporin-3 gene expression in the skin.

In order to diagnose death associated with fire, it is essential to show that the person was exposed to heat while still alive. We investigated both AQP1 and AQP3 expression in the skin of an experimental burn model, as well as in forensic autopsy cases, and discuss its role in the differential diagnosis of ante- and postmortem burns. In animal experiments, there was no difference in AQP1 gene expression among four groups (n=4): antemortem burn, postmortem burn, mechanical wound, and control.

Temporal expression of wound healing-related genes in skin burn injury.

Determination of the age of burns, as well as of wounds induced mechanically, is essential in forensic practice, particularly in cases of suspected child abuse. Here, we investigated temporal changes in the expression of 13 genes during wound healing after a burn. The expression of cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ), chemokines (KC, MCP-1), proliferative factors (TGF-β, VEGF), proteases (MMP-2, 9, 13) and type I collagen in murine skin was examined by real-time PCR at 3, 6, 9, and 12 h and 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 14 days after a burn.

Postmortem multislice computed tomography (pmMSCT) imaging of hangman's fracture.

First described in 1965, avulsion of the neural arch from the vertebral body of the axis (C2) as a sequel to violent and rapid hyperextension of the head was termed hangman's fracture because of its similarity to the injury observed after judicial hanging. Since diagnosing such a fracture at autopsy is difficult because of its anatomic position, accurate determination of features of a hangman's fracture in cases of non-judicial hanging has not been systematically elucidated. We performed a prospective autopsy study visualizing hangman's fractures in 32 cases of hanging using postmortem multislice computed tomography (pmMSCT).

Circumstantial and toxicological features of deaths from self-administered intravenous anesthetic/narcotic agents.

For a better understanding of circumstantial and toxicological findings of fatalities resulting from self-administration of intravenous anesthetic/narcotic agents, medico-legal autopsy files of the State Institute of Legal and Social Medicine Berlin from 1998 to 2011 were reviewed retrospectively. Of a total of 15,300 autopsies, 9 cases of such deaths were identified, and all were health care professionals. Medical supplies for injection were found still on, or near, the body at the scene.

The number of diatoms recovered from the lungs and other organs in drowning deaths in bathwater.

We assessed the plankton levels using the diatom test in the lungs and organs of the circulatory system of nine postmortem cases of bathwater drowning and one case of death due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) while bathing, as well as in the associated bathwater. The number of planktons detected in the lungs was not related to the postmortem period or the process of drowning, but was related to the plankton levels detected in the bathwater taken from the scene. In one case of bathwater drowning, the diatom distribution of the four pulmonary lobes (165.

Thymus and adrenal glands in elder abuse.

Endogenous glucocorticoid-induced thymic involution is generally considered to be an important finding for determining child abuse. The present study investigated the weight of the thymus and the adrenal glands in elder abuse cases to identify a potential marker for elder abuse. There was no significant difference in the thymus and the adrenal weight between elder abuse and control cases.