Journal of forensic and legal medicine最新文献

{"title":"Epidemiology of stray bullet injuries in Karachi- A three-year study","authors":"Qudsia Hassan , Muhammad Ikram Ali , Muhammad Taha Sohail , Summaiya Syed Tariq , Muhammad Muaz Abbasi , Mirza Altamish Mohammad Baig","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102857","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102857","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 102857"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143760463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of community deaths in County St. Patrick Trinidad over a one-year period from January to December 2022","authors":"Sara Archee ,&nbsp;Cherisse Ratiram ,&nbsp;Nalini D. Maharaj","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102850","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102850","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To analyse the trends in community deaths in County St. Patrick in South-West Trinidad for a period of one year from January 1, 2022–December 31, 2022.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The community deaths were obtained from the County St. Patrick Community Mortality Registry and analysed for a period of one year from January to December 2022 to examine trends in demographic characteristics, manner of death and prevalence of communicable and non-communicable diseases.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>There were 597 community deaths recorded for the period January to December 2022 in County St. Patrick Trinidad. The age and sex distribution of community deaths followed a similar distribution to national mortality data with more deaths occurring in males (59.1 %) and persons aged 60 years and older (77.2 %). Post-mortem examinations were requested in 30.5 % of community deaths which is comparable to previous regional post-mortem rates. The majority (91.5 %) of community deaths were classified by manner of death as natural. The proportion of unnatural deaths (8.5 %) was consistent with previous national mortality data. The trend of the prevalence of communicable diseases followed the national mortality trend of COVID-19 related deaths in Trinidad and Tobago, with the highest number of deaths occurring in January 2022 and decreased as the year progressed. There was an increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases particularly hypertension (44.4 %) and diabetes (32.5 %) in community deaths when compared to the national prevalence of 25.8 % and 11.7 % respectively.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The community deaths in County St. Patrick over a one-year period from January to December 2022 followed similar national and global trends such as age and gender. However, our results revealed the impact of the increasing homicide rate in Trinidad and Tobago, increased prevalence of NCDs specifically hypertension and diabetes, and decreasing trend in COVID-19 deaths. Recommendations include to improve the reporting of community deaths, strengthen end of life/palliative care services in the public health care system and improving the prevention and control of NCDs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 102850"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143859701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Determinant factors in the identification of unknown cadavers in a forensic medical institute","authors":"Aldeir José da Silva ,&nbsp;Polyanna Helena Coelho Bordoni ,&nbsp;Luiz Sérgio Silva ,&nbsp;Giulia Maciel Nery ,&nbsp;Paulo Márcio Campos de Oliveira","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102853","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102853","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Introduction</h3><div>Globally, efforts are being made to locate and identify as many missing people as possible, due to the social and legal importance of this process. Brazilian law 13.812/2019 established the National Policy for the Search for Missing Persons, prioritizing the search and identification of missing persons by public security agencies.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To evaluate factors related to the identification of unknown bodies that arrived at a Brazilian Medical Examiner's Institute.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>This was an epidemiological, cross-sectional study aiming to describe the characteristics of unidentified individuals in 2021 and factors related to their identification. A descriptive analysis, Pearson's Chi-square test with Monte Carlo simulation, and prevalence ratios obtained through Poisson regression were conducted.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>A total of 3649 individuals were examined, with a higher prevalence of male individuals and adults, whose cause of death was undetermined. Among them, 1046 arrived at the institute unidentified, while the rest were identified upon admission. Proportionally, there were more men and young people among the unidentified compared to those already identified upon arrival at the Institute. Of the 1046 unidentified individuals, most were recognized by family members, with 30 % identified technically, predominantly through fingerprint analysis. There were proportionally more unidentified individuals who were still unidentified and lacked information on sex, age, and cause of death compared to those who were identified. Fingerprint collection and the issuance of comparative anthropological/odontological reports were statistically significant for the identification process, and there was a higher chance of identification among unidentified females or individuals up to 17 years old, who represented a smaller number of cases, which improved the targeting of direct comparison between antemortem and postmortem data.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Fingerprint collection is especially important for the identification process. Defining or predicting the biological profile of the unidentified is crucial for the direct comparison of cases, making forensic anthropology services essential for critical cases involving cadaveric transformation, especially when there is the possibility of issuing comparative reports.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102853"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143682733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping the landscape: Analysis of publication trends in forensic anthropology. Insights from Poland","authors":"Melania Mazur ,&nbsp;Agata Cieślik ,&nbsp;Katarzyna Górka","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102854","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102854","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Academic research in forensic anthropology is a crucial aspect for the development of this highly applied science, especially considering its social impact. The interdisciplinary character of forensic anthropology and very diversified caseload create a context in which theoretical and practical challenges emerge. This requires a swift response from the scientific community to develop new solutions or improve existing approaches. Although much is being produced worldwide in the field of forensic anthropology, there are only a few countries that lead this trend. In this article, the authors attempted to critically examine academic research within forensic anthropology in Poland by analysing its knowledge production over the last decades. A meticulous bibliographic analysis resulted in the discovery of 220 relevant academic records published between 1952 and 2023. Almost 70 % of identified papers were published in national journals and 58 % appeared in Polish. In total, 36 different institutions participate in knowledge production in this field. International collaboration is very low (∼6 %) and over 50 % of records did not involve any academic partnership. The most common type of paper is case report, primarily related to mass grave exhumations of war and totalitarian crimes. We conclude that Polish forensic anthropology research is derivative rather than original (with case reports and review papers as most frequent) and Poland remains a relatively insignificant actor when considering the overall knowledge production in forensic anthropology. In the discussion we try to understand these outcomes in the light of Polish historical context and current academic, and socio-political conjuncture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102854"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143682731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Osteometric sex estimation using the humerus, the radius and the ulna in the contemporary population of Croatia","authors":"Anton Mažuranić,&nbsp;Pero Bubalo,&nbsp;Marija Baković","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102852","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102852","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>The primary aim of this study was to determine if the humerus, the radius, and the ulna exhibit sexual dimorphism in the contemporary Croatian population, while secondary aims were to establish population-specific univariate standards and discriminant equations for the upper limb bones with known and new osteometric anatomical parameters.</div></div><div><h3>Study design</h3><div>The study was conducted on the skeletal remains of the victims of the Homeland War (1991–1995). Sexual dimorphism was analyzed using standard descriptive statistics. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the cut-off points for the highest accuracy in sex estimation. Standard and stepwise discriminant function analysis was performed, and discriminant function equations were established.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>All measured anatomical parameters significantly differed between males and females (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.001). Univariate sex estimation accuracy using ROC was as high as 93.2 %, while multivariate sex estimation using discriminant function equations demonstrated accuracy ranging from 83.8 % to 91.2 %.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>This study used new osteometric anatomical parameters to establish population-specific (Croatian population) univariate and multivariate sex estimation standards and equations.</div><div>Established univariate standards can be used for sex estimation when the fragmentary upper limb is discovered in a forensic context, while the established discriminant function equations can be used as the sole method or in combination with other sex estimation methods when complete upper limb bones are recovered.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102852"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143643765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fatal pneumopericardium in a road traffic accident: An uncommon contributor to death in the presence of traumatic brain injury","authors":"Deepu Mathew ,&nbsp;Vinod Ashok Chaudhari ,&nbsp;Kanwalpreet Kaur ,&nbsp;Jasleen Kaur ,&nbsp;Karpora Sundara Pandyen P","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102851","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102851","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A pneumopericardium is a condition characterized by the presence of air or gas within the pericardial sac. Sixty percent of pneumopericardium in adults is caused by traumatic events, specifically penetrating chest trauma. Clinical monitoring is sufficient for patients with no hemodynamic instability while waiting for air absorption. In contrast, if pericardial tamponade develops, pericardiocentesis or immediate surgery to seal the channel between air and pericardium is required. However, whenever there are multiple injuries are present, the clinician's attention can divert to a more severe form of injury and may miss other injuries that can be potentially fatal. We present a rare case of isolated pneumopericardium without pneumothorax in a 48-year-old male who was involved in a road traffic accident. The condition developed gradually and was only identified during the postmortem. We provide a detailed account of the clinical presentation, hospital course, and macroscopic and microscopic autopsy features. This case report emphasizes the necessity of assessing all possible complications in polytrauma cases that have the potential to be fatal despite the fact that they were not identified during the initial evaluation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"112 ","pages":"Article 102851"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Penetration capability of 0.177 (4.5 mm) air gun pellet and the characteristics of the entrance wound at various impact energies between 3.28 - 15.64 J on porcine skin. An experimental study","authors":"Karola Petrus ,&nbsp;Furkan Yaşlıoğlu ,&nbsp;Viktor Soma Poór ,&nbsp;Emil Hamza ,&nbsp;Norbert Szabián ,&nbsp;Sándor Szukits ,&nbsp;Gábor Kovács ,&nbsp;Gábor Simon","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102849","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102849","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Air guns generate a large number of shot injuries, while pellets can produce life-threatening or lethal injuries by penetrating deep tissue. The assessment of air gun injuries include determining the direction and the distance of the shot, the type of arm, and the penetration capability of the pellet. Answering these questions can be challenging since air gun injuries have received less attention in scientific studies.</div><div>This study aimed to determine skin and soft-tissue penetration capabilities and wound characteristics of air guns at different impact energies. Test shots were conducted on porcine tissue and ballistic gel with 0.177 caliber air guns from different shooting distances between impact energies of 3.28 and 15.71 J (111 m/s to 243.5 m/s). Entrance wound appearance, size, and penetration depth were compared. The penetration capabilities of the pellet with different impact energies are assessed and discussed.</div><div>No difference was found in the entrance wound shape and appearance between shots from different distances and impact energy. The results indicate that 0.177 caliber air guns above 7.5 J of muzzle energy can easily penetrate deep into soft tissue, thus able to cause severe, life-threatening injuries. An air gun with a muzzle energy below 7.5 J muzzle energy can still cause severe injury up to 20–30 m as the projectile has enough energy to create several centimeter-deep penetrations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102849"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143682732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age-at-death estimation based on algorithms for multi-class discriminant analysis using binary and ordinal predictors","authors":"Efthymia Nikita ,&nbsp;Panos Nikitas","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102848","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102848","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><div>The objective of this study is to develop algorithms for multi-class discriminant analysis using binary and/or ordinal predictors that can be used effectively to age-at-death estimation when expressed in terms of binary/ordinal age markers.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>The algorithms examined are based on the crude assumption that the predictors are uncorrelated or on the latent model which assumes that the discrete predictors code an underlying multivariate normal distribution. The tetrachoric/polychoric correlations of this distribution are either estimated from the training dataset and used without or with correction to fall within feasible correlation bounds or are extracted from algorithms used to generate correlated binary/ordinal data.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>It was found that, irrespective of the origin of the dataset analyzed, the crude algorithms may give poor results only when applied to ordinal datasets with very strong intercorrelated predictors. In what concerns the classification performance of the algorithms based on the latent model, we did not detect any statistically significant differences; they all perform similarly. The application of the algorithms to age-at-death estimation showed that the total classification accuracy is overall satisfactory even in datasets with small sample sizes, but the cross-validated accuracy is low when sample sizes are small.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>In age-at-death estimations we can use any algorithm from those we studied except for the crude algorithms. However, to increase the classification accuracy, we should increase the size of the classes. Under this prerequisite, we may achieve very high cross-validated classification accuracies, in most cases higher than 90 %.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102848"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143643766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Purple bowel misdiagnosed as intestinal hemorrhage","authors":"Hasan A. Abderrahman ,&nbsp;Imad M. Al-Abdallat ,&nbsp;Lamia K. Alsenaidi ,&nbsp;Younes F. Samara ,&nbsp;Deema K. Allouzi ,&nbsp;Sara A. Ishtaieh ,&nbsp;Leen A. Abuzaid","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102833","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102833","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>When blood-like discoloration is found during the autopsy, forensic pathologists consider a traumatic origin. This paper presents a case of blood-like discoloration of the bowel arising from a natural cause. Intestinal discoloration by beetroot is a postmortem phenomenon explained by the passive diffusion of the pigment from the lumen of the intestine through the autolyzed intestinal mucosa 1. The pigment is not permanent and can transfer from the intestinal wall to surrounding tissues. Moreover, the color vanished during fixation in buffered formalin and could not be detected on histological examination. We conclude that the purple bowel is rarely reported because preprocedural fasting makes it hard to spot the discoloration in living patients, and the amount of beetroot needed to induce the discoloration is not known. In addition, adequate time must pass between death and autopsy for the passive diffusion to occur 2. Finally, it might be mistaken for hemorrhage due to its similarity in appearance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102833"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143488741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Umbrella review: CT of frontal, maxillary and sphenoidal sinuses for sexual dimorphism","authors":"Wahaj Anees ,&nbsp;Debora Moreira ,&nbsp;Marianna Arakelyan ,&nbsp;Walbert Vieira ,&nbsp;Luiz Renato Paranhos ,&nbsp;Ademir Franco","doi":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102838","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102838","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Purpose</h3><div>This study aimed to synthesize evidence on the use of computed tomography (CT) for sexual dimorphism based on the frontal (FS), maxillary (MS) and sphenoidal (SS) sinuses.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>An umbrella review was designed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Overviews of Reviews (PRIOR) and considered the Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR) network. The study protocol was registered in Open science framework (OSF, <span><span>https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/5XWJU</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>). Systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining FS, MS and SS through CT imaging were included. The search was performed across PubMed, SciELO, LILACS and Open Grey.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Six eligible systematic reviews published between 2021 and 2024 were identified. These reviews analyzed the sinuses for parameters such as height, width, length, area, and volume. The studies predominantly focused on adults with age range spanning 13–97 years. The findings indicated accuracy rates for sexual dimorphism typically ranging between 60 % and 80 %, with MS generally being more dimorphic than the others. Two systematic reviews included meta-analyses, reporting sensitivity and specificity rates for MS of up to 72.3 % and 69 %, respectively. Cone beam CT yielded higher accuracy compared to multislice CT. However, the quality of studies was critically low or moderate based on AMSTAR-2 and ROBIS assessments – highlighting methodological inconsistencies and biases.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>The studied sinuses were considered adjuvant tools for sexual dimorphism. Better results might come from MS visualized by means of CBCT. Primary studies remain necessary for stronger evidence.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":16098,"journal":{"name":"Journal of forensic and legal medicine","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102838"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143535300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}