Obturator hernia and the elderly.

An 84-year-old woman with a history of weight loss, anorexia and episodic vomiting was admitted to hospital where she died soon afterwards. Her diagnosis was acute renal injury due to dehydration and malnutrition. At autopsy the body was cachectic with a small intestinal obstruction due to herniation through a defect at the anterolateral aspect of the obturator foramen.

Lethal carbon monoxide toxicity in a concrete shower unit.

A 47-year-old previously-well woman was found dead on the floor of a shower cubicle on a property in rural South Australia. The impression of the attending doctor and police was of collapse due to natural disease. Although there was significant stenosing coronary artery atherosclerosis found at autopsy, cherry pink discoloration of tissues prompted measurement of the blood carboxyhemoglobin level which was found to be 55%.

The remains at Lethbridge's Pocket - the case against the Kenniff brothers.

On 30th March 1902 Police Constable George Doyle and Carnarvon Station manager Albert Dahlke were allegedly gunned down at Lethbridge's Pocket in Central Queensland. Approximately 90 kg of ash and burnt human remains with articles belonging to the two men were later found in saddle bags left at the scene on a police horse. Subsequently two local cattle and horse thieves, Patrick and James Kenniff, were convicted in the Queensland Supreme Court of the wilful murder of Constable Doyle.

Occult cardiac lymphoma and sudden death.

A 56-year-old man with no previous medical history collapsed and was not able to be resuscitated. The major findings at autopsy were enlargement of the heart (weight = 527 g) which contained an infiltrating firm, homogeneous tumor in an epicardial location adjacent to the left anterior descending and right coronary arteries, with further extension into the right ventricular outflow tract, the interventricular septum and left ventricular free wall. Sections showed sheets of small lymphoid cells with scattered large lymphocytes amounting to a low-grade follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma, as tumor cells were CD20, CD10, Bcl 2 and LMO 2 positive.

Double-chambered left ventricle - a "heart within a heart".

A 20-year-old previously well man drowned after performing a back-flip off a bridge into a river. At autopsy no significant injuries or organic illness were identified. An unusual incidental finding was a double chambered left ventricle, or so-called "heart within a heart", with the left ventricle subdivided into two separate chambers by a muscular septum.

Cannibalism amongst penitentiary escapees from Sarah Island in nineteenth century Van Diemen's Land.

Alexander Pearce was an Irish convict incarcerated on Sarah Island on the west coast of Van Diemen's Land (modern day Tasmania, Australia) in 1822, following his transportation to the colony from the United Kingdom for seven years in 1819. On two occasions he escaped from the island, in September 1822 and again in November 1823, and was only able to survive the harsh conditions by killing and consuming his fellow escapees. Given that Pearce utilized the only sustenance that was at hand (i.

The death of Ben Hall.

Ben Hall was a nineteenth-century Australian bushranger (outlaw) who was shot and killed by colonial police on May 5 1865. Popular belief is that Hall was shot while sleeping in his camp bedding. This contrasts with the official police version of Hall being shot while attempting to escape by running away.

Line of fire - what happened at the Wantabadgery seige?

A gunfight between police and a gang of men led by the self-styled "Captain Moonlite", a.k.a.

Death by food.

Although death from food is not an uncommon finding in forensic facilities worldwide, the range of underlying lethal mechanisms and associated conditions that should be sought at the time of autopsy is quite disparate. Deaths may occur from i) infectious agents including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, cestodes, nematodes and prions; ii) natural toxins including amanita toxins, tetrodotoxin, ciguatera and scombroid; iii) anaphylaxis; iv) poisoning; v) mechanical issues around airway and gut obstruction and/or perforation; and vi) miscellaneous causes. Food-related deaths are important in terms of global mortality, and thus autopsies need to be comprehensive with full ancillary testing.

The Forensic Implications of Amphetamine Intoxication in Cases of Inflicted Blunt Craniocerebral Trauma.

The effects of D-amphetamine on outcome after blunt craniocerebral trauma are characterized and the potential legal implications discussed. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was induced under general anesthesia in adult, male Sprague Dawley rats using the impact acceleration model. At 10 min prior to injury, D-amphetamine (5 mg/kg) or saline vehicle was administered subcutaneously; animals were subsequently assessed over a 7-day period post-trauma for motor outcome using a rotarod device.