A population of 117 individuals of La Paz was typed for 15 STR loci using the AmpFlSTR (R) Identifiler (TM) PCR kit (Applied Biosystems). Allelic frequencies and parameters of forensic interest (power of discrimination and probability of exclusion) were calculated. A comparative study with populations from Central and South America was done, using the calculation of genetic distances between them and the phylogenetic tree.
Toxicological investigation of drugs in dentin can help in reconstructive identification of corpses with extensive soft tissues destruction. In this work the analysis of benzodiazepines in dental tissues was performed by LC/MS/MS. The method allows the identification and quantitation of 16 benzodiazepines, after a solid phase extraction procedure. The method was applied to 16 teeth real cases from patients under chronic treatment with these drugs. Twelve out of these cases tested positive to any benzodiazepine, while 4 were negative. This means that a positive result confirms the use of the drug, but a negative one does not exclude it.
The authors report a case of a floating body recovered from a well. A 62-year-old woman committed suicide by drowning herself in a well. According to information given by her relatives she had a 13-year history of depression and she wanted to commit suicide. Liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) was used to determine bromazepam in blood. Samples were extracted using Oasis (R) HLB solid-phase cartridges, and separation and quantitation was done using positive-mode electrospray ionization in the single ion monitoring (SIR) mode. Chromatographic separation was achieved using an Atlantis (R) T3 column (2.1x150 mm, 5 mu m), eluted in a gradient system with acetonitrile and formic acid 0.1%, at a flow rate of 300 mu L/min. Quantitation was achieved by the addition of diazepam deuterated (DZP-d5) as internal standard. The compounds were detected monitoring two ions for bromazepam (m/z 318, and m/z 288) and m/z 290 for the deuterated, DZP-d5.Toxicological results revealed in blood a toxic concentration of bromazepam of 418 ng/mL. This finding might be important for the interpretation, not of the cause of death (since the drowning was confirmed by autopsy), but for the state of mind of the victim that had, somehow, helped her to committ suicide (concomitant existence of a psychotropic substance).
Sometimes when young girls are victim of sexual assault the court determines the interruption of few weeks' gestation pregnancies and the posterior paternity testing to identify the crime perpetrator. In those cases is a good practice to collect samples (blood, skin or oral swabs) by forensic medical experts after the abortion procedure in order to avoid complex and not always successful technical procedures if further are received bones, muscle, paraffin-embedded blocks or, even worst, the whole fetus fixed in formalin.
Adipocere is a late post-mortem decomposition product that consists of a mixture of fatty acids. The rate of formation of adipocere in a river water environment has been monitored. Adipocere formed from pig adipose tissue has been analysed using gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GCMS) in order to determine the fatty acid composition, and hence, the degree of formation in the different environments. The study shows that the rate at which adipocere forms depends on the type of aqueous environment.
The potential of pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GCMS) as a tool for the estimation of post-mortem age of bones has been investigated. Pig bone specimens prepared under controlled burial conditions in soil were studied and the post-mortem ages ranged from 3 to 48 months. Notable differences were observed in the data produced for younger bone specimens (< 1 year) compared to specimens of greater post-mortem age (> 1 year). Py-GCMS also demonstrates a relationship of particular peak ratios with the age of bones. The ratios of peaks in the pyrograms were examined and it was demonstrated that the ratios of certain pairs of peaks increase as the bone age increases.
: the archaeological finding of an isolated buried skeleton in the neighbourhood of a small medieval church has made to date, by the archaeologists, the grave approximately about the year 1000. the study of the skeleton with forensic-anthropological techniques has allowed to obtain many marks about the physical features of the subject; but, above all, very thorough forensic-pathological examination, also using of optical and electronic microscopical techniques, has allowed to characterize meaningful injuries at the head, evocative of their intra-vitam production, indicative of some features of the productive mean and much evocative of causes and modalities of the death, probably identifiable in an execution. the purpose is to suggest the comparative use of macroscopic, microscopic and ultra-microscopic morphologic analysis compared can suggest solutions of cases happened in far historical ages, cases of which we only have the skeletal substrate.
Informed consent is a very important document in legal medicine, as well as in the doctor-patient relationship. The informed consent has been widely developed in Spain with haw 41/2002 that regulates Patient Autonomy and Health Documentation and Information related Right and Obligations. The Spanish Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology suggests that many claims in their speciality have their origin in this issue. So, we reviewed this document in 20 Spanish medical centers (public and private) in curettage interventions and various medical societies and public institutions. Protocols for administration and the content of the informed consents checked were acceptable in most of them, except the private centres for voluntary interruption of pregnancy. We conclude that curettage should have a more homogeneous protocol of informed consent between public and private centres; the information should be adapted for each patient; a signed copy of the document should be given to the patient; and informed consent should be provided at least 24 hours before the intervention.
This paper refers to a case of clinical forensic evaluation, in terms of labour law, the patient evoking the existence of cardiac sequelae supervening head trauma, due to a fall from a height. Beside a brief reflexion on this pathological entity, the authors also pretend to illustrate the importance of an accurate analysis of all available data, from patient interview to clinical documentation, in order to establish the causal nexus.
Cardiovascular diseases are the most frequent causes of Sudden Death in the adult. The authors report the case of a 44-year-old man who died sudden and unexpectedly when driving from Lisbon to Coimbra. A forensic postmortem examination revealed not only hypertensive and ischemic cardiopathy but also hypersensitivity non-illicit drug-induced myocarditis, with morphological evidence of both mechanical and arrhythmic mechanisms leading to death. It highlights the relevance of histological examination in the investigation of sudden death and emphasizes the etiologic complexity underlying cardiac sudden, unexpected deaths.
Incest is a well-known phenomenon, defined as a sexual relationship between close blood relatives, usually between father-daughter, uncle-nephew and also brother-sister, or, in its broader sense, between a child and a stepparent or stepsibling. Incest is a taboo in many countries; however incest and sexual aggression toward minors are not classified as a criminal behaviour in all part of the world.Our study has the purpose to examine the legislator's attitude towards this social phenomenon in expansion. Clinical Forensic approach to this phenomenon in literature is an essential contributory to explain the physical and psychological consequences; but it is yet certainly possible to ameliorate legal-medical procedures of investigation. We report the laws in force in different countries so to appraise the exact connotation of this crime in our country.The aim of this research is to take widest consciousness of the diffusion of this phenomenon in the health professionals and the difference of cultural approach in legal perspectives.
Pets live with people and place biological samples everywhere, which may be useful in a forensic context linking suspects and victims, to an occurrence. There were analyzed samples of 63 unrelated dogs to the STR's markers PEZ1, FHC2054, FHC2010, PEZ5, PEZ20, PEZ12, PEZ3, PEZ6, PEZ8 and FHC2079, and 63 feline samples of unrelated animals for the FCA733, FCA723 and FCA731 markers. Preliminary results show that it is possible to make genetic identification of individual animals of species under study, thus contributing to increase the potential of forensic samples of animal origin.
We applied here energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDX) to medicolegal autopsy case of drowning in a river under the influence of hypnotics. Rapid elemental analysis using EDX identified bromide in blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid of victim during autopsy. Subsequent toxicological analysis with a high performance liquid chromatography revealed bromovalerylurea in blood and other specimens. Present case shows that screening using EDX, ideal examination for non-destructive, rapid elemental analysis, provides useful information for identification of drugs.
A 36-year-old Portuguese male hit by a train was found dead on the tracks, with his limbs partially separated and several parts of his body exhibiting severe injuries. The precise circumstances of death were unknown. As in many other similar cases, blood and urine were unavailable. A toxicological study for drugs of abuse in the liver and kidney was performed by solid phase extraction after sonication and homogenization of the samples. The organic phases obtained were evaporated until dryness and derivatized with a mixture of MSTFA/TMCS for the analysis of opiates, cocaine and canabinnoids, and with MBTFA for amphetamines. Derivatized extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in selected ion monitoring mode. Morphine, cocaine and its metabolite benzoilecgonine were found in the liver and kidney. No alcohol was found in the vitreous humor. Although blood and urine are the most common and preferred matrices used for toxicological studies involving drugs of abuse, sometimes the choice of specimen is dictated by the case being investigated.
The STR allele frequencies have been used in studies of human populations to assess their genetic composition, variability, relationships and the evolutionary factors to which they are subjected. The Brazilian population is composed of individuals from different ethnical origins, varying according to the geographical region. Santa Catarina population is mainly originated from Portuguese (Azores archipelago). In this study, a Neighbor-Joining tree was constructed based on genetic distances of Nei, using the allele frequencies of the CODIS STR loci, from Santa Catarina population and other 23 different populations, including some of other ethnic groups. The results indicate the requirement of an extensive genetic study in order to implement population specific databases for forensic purposes.
This work reports a case, involving a 47-year-old Portuguese male found dead in a river. Near the victim clothes the authorities found two bottles containing a toxic product identified as cyfluthrin. Cyfluthrin is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide that exerts its poison action through contact or ingestion.Toxicological analyses were performed in blood, gastric content and in the bottles. Samples preparation was achieved using solid phase extraction and the extracts obtained were analysed by GC/MS.Cyfluthrin was found in the gastric content and in the extract obtained after washing the bottles with a solvent.
Orthopantomographs taken from 308 Spanish Caucasian and 200 Venezuelan Amerindian children, aged between 2 and 18 years, were analysed following the Demirjian’s method. The aims of this study were to test the applicability of the Demirjian’s method to two different sample populations, and to develop age prediction models for both populations using the original French Canadian scores described by Demirjian (1976) and the new multi-ethnic dental scores proposed by Chaillet et al. (2005) when the ethnic origin is unknown. Results showed that despite the good correlation between dental and chronological age, Demirjian’s method overestimates the age in the Spanish Caucasian sample using both scores, the mean overestimation being higher when the Demirjian’s scores were used than when the Chaillet’s scale was applied. In the Venezuelan Amerindian sample, the opposite was found: Demirjian’s method underestimates the age using both scores, the underestimation being higher when the Chaillet’s scale was applied than when Demirjian’s scale was used. New graphs were produced to convert the maturity scores to dental age for Spanish and Venezuelan children. With these graphs, the Demirjian’s scores showed to be inadequate after the age of 12 in both populations, while Chaillet’s scores offered useful information until 14 years of age.
no much information is available on workplace drug testing, including ethanol, being this substance often implicated in labour accidental deaths.the aim of this study was to assess the presence of alcohol among in labour fatal accidents between January 1990 and December 2007, by presenting the requests and toxicological results of corresponding autopsies, from the Pathology service of the centre Branch of the national Institute of Legal medicine and from a Legal medicine office.In the Forensic Pathology service, between 1990 and 2007, a total of 261 autopsies were performed on labour accidents victims.ethanol analysis was requested in only 50% of the cases, with 25% positive results.From the positive studied cases, 24% presented ethanol concentrations above 1.2g/L and 55% under 0.5g/L, with all the cases related to men aged between 41 and 50 years-old (24%).In the Legal medicine office, from April 2001 to 2007, 1219 autopsies were performed, 28 to labour victims, with only one female victim.ethanol analysis was requested in 75% of the cases, with 48% positive results, 70% under 0.5g/L, with all the cases related to men aged between 51 and 60 years-old (24%).
