Cognitive Outcome after Surgery in Patients with Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the neuropsychological outcomes of patients with medically intractable unilateral mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) due to hippocampal sclerosis (HS) treated either by anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) or selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH).

Methods: This was a retrospective study where 67 patients who had undergone surgery for MTLE were evaluated. Thirty-two patients underwent ATL and 35 underwent SAH.

Effect of metallothionein core promoter region polymorphism on cadmium, zinc and copper levels in autopsy kidney tissues from a Turkish population.

Metallothioneins (MTs) are metal-binding, low molecular weight proteins and are involved in pathophysiological processes like metabolism of essential metals, metal ion homeostasis and detoxification of heavy metals. Metallothionein expression is induced by various heavy metals especially cadmium, mercury and zinc; MTs suppress toxicity of heavy metals by binding themselves to these metals. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the -5 A/G metallothionein 2A (MT2A) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and Cd, Zn and Cu levels in the renal cortex from autopsy cases.

Avoidable breaches of confidentiality: a study among students of medicine and of law.

Objectives: Avoidable breaches of patient confidentiality due to inadvertence or ignorance occur frequently. The aim of this study was to explore whether participants were able to identify violations of confidentiality and how serious these violations were.

Design: After a 2-hour theoretical education session, participants filled out a standardised questionnaire presenting 6 hypothetical cases (e.

Criminal responsibility and cannabis use: psychiatric review and proposed guidelines.

An evaluation of the criminal responsibility of an offender who has consumed cannabis necessitates knowledge of the effect of the product on the offender's mental state at the time of the alleged offense. However, the effects induced by cannabis are numerous and the forensic psychiatrist should base his diagnosis and his evaluation on facts which are as objective as possible. A selective literature review, using the computerized databases Medline, Psychlit and Embase, has been carried out to aid evaluation from a forensic psychiatry point of view.

Unidentified bodies/skulls found in Danish waters in the period 1992-1996.

In the period 1992-1996 a total of 89 unidentified bodies/skulls found in Danish waters were investigated at the three University Institutes of Forensic Medicine in Denmark. Males constituted 79% of the total material. Open water was the finding place in half the cases, about one-fourth was found on shore and another fourth in a harbor basin.

Significance of various analytical methods with reference to the causes and manners of death in alcoholics.

It was the aim of the present investigation to apply a broad spectrum of analyses to forensic autopsies of alcoholics in order to estimate the significance of the various analytical methods with reference to the cause and manner of death. The analyses were performed on a consecutive series of 73 medico-legal autopsies in alcoholics. Both extensive histology as well as toxicology and microbiology were used.

Death and injury caused by land mines in Burma.

One hundred and eighty-eight Burmese refugees in Thailand were interviewed. One hundred and five of those interviewed had knowledge of a total of 313 persons who had been exposed to land mine explosions. Twenty-three of the interviewed were land mine survivors.

Myocardial sarcoidosis in forensic medicine.

Sudden death is the most common manifestation of myocardial sarcoidosis, which is often clinically silent. The disease is rarely encountered in forensic medicine, but the diagnosis is important because it may change the interpretation of the manner of death and thus have insurance implications. Six cases of myocardial sarcoidosis diagnosed at autopsy are reported, and the significance of the findings is discussed.

Bacteria in lung tissue from an autopsy population of alcoholics.

The retrieval of bacteria from the lungs postmortem was examined in a population of alcoholics who had a medico-legal autopsy performed. The results were compared with non-alcoholic controls. Pneumococci were found more frequently in alcoholics, but in general there were no major differences.

Post-mortem radiological examination in infants: evidence of child abuse?

We examined the value of post-mortem radiological examination of infants who were brought in for medico-legal autopsy. Twenty children between the age of 1 month and 15 months died under the picture of SIDS. No radiological or other signs of previous child abuse were seen in our autopsy material.

Electrically induced deposition of metal on the human skin.

The diagnosis of electrical lesions may be difficult. Forensic material consisting of 24 post-mortem skin samples from 11 fatalities due to electricity was examined with regard to the deposition of iron or copper on the skin. Metal deposition was demonstrated on the epidermis in eight cases.

A prospective toxicology analysis in alcoholics.

A prospective and comprehensive investigation was done on 73 medico-legal autopsies in alcoholics. The results of the toxicology analyses are described. Alcohol intoxication was the cause of death in 8%, combined alcohol/drug intoxication in 15% and drugs alone in 19%.

Reye's syndrome.

Reye's syndrome is a rare disorder appearing almost always in childhood. It is characterized by acute encephalopathy and fatty degeneration of the viscera. The mortality is high and many survivors have neurologic sequelae.

Diseases of the airways and lungs in forensic autopsy material of alcoholics.

The frequency of diseases of the airways and lungs was examined in a forensic autopsy material of 441 alcoholics, who were compared with 255 controls. Lobar pneumonia was seen only in alcoholics, emphasizing alcohol abuse as a predisposing factor for this infection. Tuberculosis was more frequent in alcoholics, while there were no major differences in the occurrence of chronic lung diseases.

Chronic alcoholism in a forensic material. 2. Causes and manners of death in alcoholics.

The causes and manners of death in medico-legal cases from a five-year period were examined. Alcoholics died more often of combined alcohol/drug intoxication and of carbon monoxide poisoning. They had a lower frequency of heart diseases, and there was no support for the existence of an alcoholic heart muscle disease.

Chronic alcoholism in a forensic material. 1. Social parameters in alcoholics.

An investigation was performed on material from deceased from the Copenhagen County, examined at the Institute of Forensic Medicine during the period 1985-1989. The basis and the reliability of the diagnosis of chronic alcoholism in a forensic post-mortem material is discussed. The frequency of alcoholics in the autopsy material varied between 25 per cent and 30 per cent annually.

Alcoholic ketoacidosis as a cause of death in forensic cases.

Forensic pathologists are familiar with alcohol abusers, who are found dead and in whom the cause of death cannot be ascertained. In order to examine the possible role of ketoacidosis for the cause of death in this group of alcohol abusers, the concentrations of ketone bodies (acetone, acetoacetate, D-beta-hydroxybutyrate) were determined in post mortem blood specimens. Determination of the ketone body concentrations were made by a coupled enzymatic head-space gas chromatographic method.

Atherosclerosis in alcoholics.

A cohort of alcoholics who underwent a medico-legal autopsy during a 5-year period was compared with non-alcoholic controls who did not differ from the alcoholics in selection criteria. The degree of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries and the aorta was examined. Alcoholic men and old women had a significantly lower degree of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, while the opposite was found in young women.

Vaccination promotes TH1-like inflammation and survival in chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in rats.

In a rat model of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection mimicking cystic fibrosis (CF) we studied whether the inflammatory response could be altered by vaccination. Rats were immunized with either a depolymerized alginate toxin A conjugate (D-ALG toxin A), purified alginate, an O-polysaccharide toxin A conjugate, or sterile saline. After challenge none of the rats immunized with D-ALG toxin A died, in contrast to the other two vaccine groups combined (p = 0.

Sudden infant death syndrome and lipoma: the presence of fat tissue in the spinal canal.

An epidural lipoma in the spinal canal in a case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is described. Histologic sections from ten SIDS cases were compared with five controls. It is concluded that there are no indications that an increased amount of fat in the spinal canal plays a role in the pathogenesis of SIDS.