International Journal of Legal Medicine最新文献

{"title":"Sex assessment from contemporary Mexican postcranial long bones.","authors":"Antinea Menéndez Garmendia, Gabriela Sánchez-Mejorada, Jorge Alfredo Gómez-Valdés","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03541-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03541-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The estimation of sex is crucial in forensic anthropology for human identification. Particularly in Mexico, there is a need for methods suitable for complex forensic contexts where skeletal elements are incomplete and/or fragmented. Based on this premise, research using bones from the postcranial skeleton have shown promising results, especially with long bone measurements of the extremities, which have proven to be reliable sex indicators.The aim of this study was to develop discriminant functions and cut-off points for variables evaluated in sex estimation for human identification in a forensic context. A total of 30 measurements were taken from the long bones of the extremities of 122 individuals (31% female and 69% male) from the skeletal collection housed at the Physical Anthropology Laboratory in the Anatomy department of the School of Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Results indicate significant differences between females and males in all measurements. Cut-off points were established for each skeletal element and 10 discriminant functions were generated. The results showed correct classification percentages ranging from 63.5 to 91.9% with the cut-off points and from 73.1 to 91.4% with the discriminant functions. Therefore, we recommend these methods be used for sex estimation in diverse forensic contexts for human identification.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"3015-3023"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144325648","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Textiloma: surgical and forensic implications of medical negligence. A case report and literature review.","authors":"Lina De Paola, Gabriele Napoletano, Bruno Cirillo, Giulia Duranti, Simona Zaami, Andrea Mingoli, Enrico Marinelli, Gioia Brachini","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03547-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03547-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A textiloma or gossypiboma is a rare but serious iatrogenic complication, caused by the retention of surgical sponges or gauze within the body after surgery. Often underreported, it may remain undetected for years, leading to diagnostic challenges with significant clinical and medicolegal implications. Our study reviewed the clinical and legal aspects of textilomas. We conducted a review by searching the terms \"textiloma\" and \"post-surgery\" in a single database (PubMed) from 2014 to 2024. After excluding non-iatrogenic cases and article with no forensic or surgical interest, 25 relevant articles were found and analyzed. Clinical presentation of textilomas is variable, depending on the surgical site. Seventy percent of cases occurred after abdominal surgery, with all patients requiring further surgeries. In some cases, the foreign body migrated to other organs, and diagnosis was often delayed due to the ability of textilomas to mimic tumors, complicating differential diagnoses. Medicolegal consequences are significant: healthcare professionals may face criminal charges for negligence, even years after the index surgery. In cases of multiple surgeries, identification of the origin of the retained foreign body can be challenging, though modern tissue tracing methods may assist in identifying hospital sources. Professionally, physicians can be held liable for personal injury or patient death, leading to career damage and malpractice claims. Given that textilomas occurrence is a preventable event, they pose not only a professional and legal concern but also a public health issue, emphasizing the importance of effective prevention and risk management strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2807-2814"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144325653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessment of a microhaplotype panel for human identification and ancestry inference in Brazil.","authors":"Luciellen Davila Giacomel Kobachuk, Vítor Matheus Soares Moraes, Thássia Mayra Telles Carratto, Letícia Marcorin, Aguinaldo Luiz Simões, Heather L Norton, Esteban J Parra, Erick C Castelli, Celso Teixeira Mendes-Junior","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03573-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03573-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microhaplotypes (MHs) comprise multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA segments of up to 300 bp in length. These SNP combinations result in numerous allelic variations (i.e., haplotypes). They are an emerging type of genetic marker with the potential to be an alternative to Short Tandem Repeats (STRs), Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), and Insertion/deletion polymorphisms (InDels) in population genetic studies and forensic cases involving degraded DNA or mixed contributors. This study is the first to evaluate a microhaplotype panel in an admixed Brazilian population. We assessed 130 MH markers in 344 individuals from Ribeirão Preto (State of São Paulo, Brazil) regarding their human identification and ancestry prediction application. DNA was extracted, and samples were genotyped using the Infinium Multi-Ethnic Global-8 array (MEGA) Kit (Illumina). The Sanger and Michigan imputation tools inferred SNPs missing in the MEGA assay. The linkage disequilibrium analysis indicated that 108 out of the 128 microhaplotypes behave independently at a population level, and the combined match probability for these 108 MHs was 4.4 × 10^-81. Compared to widely used STR panels, including the 20 CODIS loci, the 108 MHs evaluated showed substantially higher discriminatory power [1 - (2.9 × 10^-28) vs. 1 - (4.4 × 10^-81). Although STRs remain the global standard in forensic genetics, these findings emphasize the potential of MHs to improve individual identification, particularly in complex or degraded samples. Analyses of 126 MHs differentiated the populations from Africa, East Asia, America (Native Americans), and Europe. This microhaplotype panel provides a powerful complementary tool for individual identification alongside the markers currently used in forensic genetics.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2659-2674"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144953258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The current state of forensic imaging - perspectives.","authors":"Fabrice Dedouit, Mathilde Ducloyer, Jamie Elifritz, Natalie L Adolphi, Grace Wong Yi-Li, Summer Decker, Jonathan Ford, Yanko Kolev, Michael Thali","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03466-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03466-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This fourth part of the review of the current state of forensic imaging describes the future potential influence of artificial intelligence in forensic imaging. In addition to this important point, training in forensic imaging is discussed in detail, as are the documentation possibilities offered by non-conventional imaging tools such as photography, photogrammetry, 3D surface scanning and 3D print casts.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2819-2827"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12532732/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143673772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the post-mortem interval through blood biochemistry: a preliminary case series study and review of the literature.","authors":"Vincenzo M Grassi, Gabriele Ciasca, Giuseppe Vetrugno, Andrea Urbani, Vincenzo L Pascali, Fabio De-Giorgio","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03576-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03576-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Post-mortem biochemistry can be included among the methods reported in the literature to investigate the time since death. To address this issue, we collected blood samples from hospitalized patients who died in the presence of health personnel. Samples were collected 20 min after death and every 6 h until 24 h post-mortem, with the last Ante Mortem (A.M.) sample also included in the analyses. Each sample was immediately centrifuged and analyzed. Our preliminary results indicate a significant and consistent increase in phosphokinase (CPK) and lactodehydrogenase (LDH) blood levels, with low interindividual variation among subjects. Interestingly, the measured time trend follows an exponential function, characterized by a time-dependent growth rate. While a larger sample size is needed to confirm our preliminary findings, our results suggest that CPK and LDH blood levels could be valuable parameters for determining the post-mortem interval. Furthermore, our data were systematically compared to those reported in the literature, which was carefully reviewed.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"3093-3102"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12532683/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144873097","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing the contribution of orthodontic profiles in predicting facial soft tissue thickness for forensic facial approximation.","authors":"Muhammad Garry Syahrizal Hanafi, Hajime Utsuno, Shuuji Namiki, Nanami Aoki, Hisako Saitoh, Saki Minegishi, Sayaka Yamada, Yohsuke Makino, Hirotaro Iwase, Koichi Sakurada","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03542-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03542-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Facial soft tissue thickness (FSTT) is essential for forensic facial approximation. Although its correlations with age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) are well documented, the potential correlations between FSTT and various orthodontic profiles-such as cephalic index (CI), skeletal class (SC), Tweed and Northwestern analyses-remain unexplored collectively. This study examined these correlations and their impact on FSTT prediction accuracy.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed 103 postmortem computed tomography datasets from Japanese cadavers aged 18-86 years. Moderate-to-high multicollinearity was identified among orthodontic profile variables (SC, Tweed, and Northwestern) and addressed using principal component analysis (PCA), yielding two principal components (PC1 and PC2). Predictive formulas were constructed incorporating age, sex, BMI, CI, PC1, and PC2. To evaluate model performance, we conducted two comparative approaches: (1) comparing root mean squared error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) from the PCA-based regression model with those derived from holdout dataset's BMI-based mean estimates, and (2) with primary dataset's baseline regression model including only age, sex, and BMI, across all landmarks.</p><p><strong>Results and discussion: </strong>PCA reduced multicollinearity, retaining 77% of total data variability. Based on the two comparative approaches, the PCA-based regression model demonstrated marginal improvements in predictive accuracy, as indicated by slightly lower RMSE and MAE across most landmarks. It indicates a limited yet consistent benefit of using orthodontic profiles for enhancing model accuracy beyond basic demographic predictors.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The inclusion of orthodontic profiles demonstrated modest improvements in predictive accuracy and may enhance the interpretive value of FSTT predictive models in forensic contexts.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial number: </strong>Not applicable.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2951-2964"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12532767/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144325644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Forensic shotgun pellet examination - material detection with dual-energy computed tomography.","authors":"Mikael Brix, Juho-Antti Junno, Eveliina Lammentausta, Alina Junno, Timo Liimatainen, Jaakko Niinimäki, Juha Kiljunen, Petteri Oura","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03553-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03553-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Forensic shotgun wounds are relatively common worldwide. Shotguns are used for legal purposes such as hunting as well as for criminal activities. In addition, shotguns are used by military and law enforcement. Even though shotguns are often lethal from close distances, shotgun wounds require medical attention regardless of the shooting distance. As a result, patients with shotgun wounds are often treated in hospitals, and in lethal incidents, they are examined by forensic pathologists. Radiological imaging, computed tomography (CT) in particular, may constitute a part of the shotgun wound examination in both scenarios. CT may help to identify and locate the pellets and aid in wound characterization. It would be important to detect the pellet material as lead pellets, for example, are heavily toxic, and others, such as steel pellets may, as ferromagnetic, prevent some further imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging from being employed. In this study, we wanted to experiment whether shotgun pellet material could be detected with radiological imaging utilizing dual-energy CT (DECT). Traditionally pellets are manufactured from heavily toxic lead, but due to environmental factors, other pellet materials such as steel, copper, tungsten, and bismuth are getting more and more popular. To conduct this study, various pellet materials were shot into ballistic gelatine blocks. The blocks then underwent DECT. Subsequently, each pellet was automatically segmented, and for these extracted pellets a dual-energy index (DEI) was computed. DEI values of the pellets were compared to determine whether this measure could be used to differentiate between the pellet materials. The DEI values (mean ± standard deviation) were 0.212 ± 0.006, 0.008 ± 0.001, 0.187 ± 0.002, 0.012 ± 0.004, and 0.008 ± 0.002 for steel, lead, copper, tungsten, and bismuth, respectively. The Wilcoxon rank sum test indicated that steel and copper pellets could be reliably differentiated from the other pellet materials. Our study demonstrated that DECT can reliably differentiate steel and copper shotgun pellets from other materials such as lead, tungsten, and bismuth. This capability may provide important additional information in medico-legal investigations and aid trauma centres treating patients with shotgun wounds.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2837-2845"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12532739/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144583859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A case of suspected transmission of group A Streptococcus from a dead body with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome to an autopsy worker.","authors":"Keisuke Okaba, Ayumi Motomura, Naoki Saito, Koji Yamaguchi, Namiko Ishii, Shizuru Hara, Misako Ohkusu, Noriko Takeuchi, Naruhiko Ishiwada, Daisuke Yajima","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03545-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03545-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Autopsy workers are known to be at risk of contracting various infectious diseases from dead bodies. However, infections caused by group A Streptococcus (GAS, Streptococcus pyogenes) are rarely reported and often overlooked despite their potential severity. GAS infections can lead to serious complications, including streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). In this study, we conducted genetic analyses to identify the source of GAS bacteremia in a worker who conducted an autopsy on an individual who had developed STSS from GAS. GAS strains from the dead body and autopsy worker were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for five major streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin (SPE) genes (speA, speB, speC, speF, and ssa) and M protein (emm) typing by sequencing. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was performed to analyze seven housekeeping genes (gki, gtr, murI, mutS, recP, xpt, and yqiL) by PCR and sequencing. Both GAS strains were positive for speB and speF, negative for speA, speC, and ssa, and classified as emm81.0 and sequence type 117. This is the first report to demonstrate homology between GAS strains from a dead body and autopsy worker using the M-protein type, SPE gene expression, and MLST analysis. Although the autopsy was conducted in a controlled environment with appropriate personal protective equipment, including N95 masks, GAS contact transmission may have occurred during other handling procedures, such body transportation. These findings emphasize the need for stringent precautionary measures when handling dead bodies and their specimens, considering the risk of infection at any time.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2789-2797"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144540143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of the luminol test on blood mRNA detection: A pilot study.","authors":"Seiji Kubo, Fumitaka Nakano, Jin Tanaka, Hideki Niimi","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03574-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03574-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Body fluid samples provide crucial evidence in forensic investigations. Analyzing them typically involves two types of tests: presumptive tests for preliminary screening and confirmatory tests for definitive identification. For example, the luminol test is a widely used presumptive test for detecting latent bloodstains at crime scenes. Upon reacting with blood, luminol produces luminescence, making invisible bloodstains detectable and aiding in blood sample collection. By contrast, messenger RNA (mRNA) analysis is used as a confirmatory test. Because these tests serve distinct purposes, forensic samples screened using presumptive tests may still be subjected to mRNA-based body fluid identification. Nevertheless, the effects of presumptive tests on subsequent mRNA analyses remain unclear. In this study, we assessed the effect of the luminol test on the detection of blood mRNA marker hemoglobin β (HBB). We found that although the luminol test resulted in HBB mRNA degradation, the RNA marker remained relatively stable in bloodstains dried after luminol testing. Our findings provide insights into the stability of HBB mRNA following luminol application.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"2681-2686"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144855148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The structure of Legal Medicine in Germany - an overview.","authors":"Knut Albrecht, Andreas Schmeling","doi":"10.1007/s00414-025-03563-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00414-025-03563-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Legal (Forensic) Medicine is considered a specialized medical discipline that uses its knowledge for the purposes of administering justice. The field covers a wide range of activities for the public, the judiciary, the clinical sector and public health. In addition to routine activities, student teaching and research are particularly important. The majority of German-speaking institutes are part of universities and usually include the specialist departments of forensic pathology, toxicology and genetics and are independent of the police and judiciary. The corresponding services will be offered in a total of 41 institutes in Germany. Further training as a specialist is set out in regulations, defined by the respective medical associations. The German Society of Legal Medicine organizes annual scientific congresses. In most cases, the professional activities are embedded in an accredited format, with standard processes being carried out in accordance with guidelines.</p>","PeriodicalId":14071,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Legal Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"3025-3031"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144667602","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}