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Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022 04 5;19(7). Epub 2022 Apr 5.

Department of Medical Research, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 11490, Taiwan.

In Taiwan, the national research on homicide is rare, mostly discussing the issue of child abuse. We sought to better understand the characteristics and risk factors of homicide through a retrospective cohort study from 1998 to 2015. "Child battering and other maltreatment" ranked first for the 0-4 age group and second for the 5-14 age group. Read More

Colomb Med (Cali) 2021 Jul-Sep;52(3):e2024492. Epub 2021 Jun 17.

National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Background: In a society, children are the most vulnerable members of the population. Violence experienced in Mexico during the last decade has also affected children under ten years of age.

Objective: Analyze the trend of homicides in children under ten years from 1998 to 2017. Read More

Emerg Med Australas 2022 Apr 9;34(2):223-229. Epub 2021 Sep 9.

Emergency and Trauma Centre and Trauma Service, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Objective: Non-fatal strangulation assessment is challenging for clinicians as clear guidelines for evaluation are limited. The prevalence of non-fatal strangulation events, clinical findings, frequency of injury on computed tomography angiogram (CTA) and outcomes across two trauma centres will be used to improve this assessment process.

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study of adult presentations during 2-year period to two major-trauma referral hospitals and subsequent 12 months to identify delayed vascular injury. Read More

J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2021 Jul-Aug;26(4):253-255. Epub 2021 Jul 12.

Department of Pediatric Surgery, B J Government Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Although motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in children are common, pediatric rectal perforations secondary to MVAs leading to transanal evisceration of the small bowel are very rare. Herniation of bowel through breach in the rectal wall seen eviscerating through the anus is a surgical emergency requiring laparotomy and necessary surgical procedure. We report case of a 3-year-old boy, victim of run-over MVA accident, presenting with bilateral fracture shaft femur, fracture of the left humerus, and transanal small bowel evisceration. Read More

Pediatr Radiol 2021 Sep 30;51(10):1889-1894. Epub 2021 Mar 30.

Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA.

Background: Acute screening of pediatric strangulation and hanging injuries has evolved at many institutions to include cervical arterial vascular imaging. As current standards in pediatric imaging support less radiation exposure and increased imaging appropriateness, it is questionable whether vascular arterial injury is a true risk in this population.

Objective: To determine the role of cervical vascular arterial imaging in the evaluation of pediatric hanging and strangulation injuries. Read More

Am J Forensic Med Pathol 2021 Jun;42(2):130-134

Department of Forensic Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Akita University, Akita, Japan.

Abstract: Muscular hemorrhages around the scapula that are caused by upper extremity motion are rarely reported in cases other than drowning. We examined differences in the frequency of muscular hemorrhages around the scapula and stratified them by the cause of death. Muscular hemorrhages were mostly noted in cases of drowning (118/185, 63. Read More

J Forensic Sci 2021 Mar 17;66(2):775-778. Epub 2020 Nov 17.

Institute of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.

Herein, we describe a case of an 81-year-old woman who was found hanged in the kneeling position, at the height of about 1.3 m, with anterior position of the knot. There were two downward directed stripes of dried blood coming out of the left nostril and left ear, while the right ear was filled with a small pool of blood. Read More

Int J Legal Med 2021 Jan 26;135(1):347-353. Epub 2020 Oct 26.

Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bühlstrasse 20, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.

Autoerotic accidents are well-known occurrences in forensic casework. Reports about unintentional deaths in a sexual context involving other persons are much rarer. Three cases of fatal incidents related to asphyxiophilia during consensual BDSM activity are reported. Read More

Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2020 Dec 12;139:110443. Epub 2020 Oct 12.

National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hyoid bone fractures due to blunt trauma are rare accounting for only 0.002% of all head and neck fractures with most documented fractures being due to strangulation, hanging, motorcycle helmet straps, sports injuries and rarely as a complication of intubation. However, they are even rarer in the paediatric age group. Read More

Eur J Radiol 2020 Nov 28;132:109297. Epub 2020 Sep 28.

Department of Radiology, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747, Jena, Germany. Electronic address:

Purpose: Our study sought to evaluate validity of forensic postmortem CT in establishing cause of death (COD) in suspected unnatural adult death based on the reference standard of autopsy.

Methods: In our prospective, single-center study, 64 of 94 consecutive corpses (70.7 % male, mean age: 47. Read More

Addiction 2021 04 1;116(4):718-724. Epub 2020 Oct 1.

Centre for Health, Wellbeing and Behaviour Change, University of Bedfordshire, Bedford, UK.

Background And Aims: Intentional asphyxiation leads to cerebral hypoxia, starving the brain of oxygen and inducing hypoxic euphoria, but carries a serious risk of accidental death, especially if practised alone. This article raises the question as to whether it could usefully be regarded as having addictive properties.

Methods And Results: A review of the literature, together with eight case study vignettes, are presented. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2020 Aug 16;313:110340. Epub 2020 May 16.

Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Butenfeld, 34, 22529, Hamburg, Germany.

Introduction: Autoerotic deaths are rare events. The death scene is often bizarre and the death unexpected, thus often requiring forensic autopsies. Our analysis will provide an overview of the expected range of causes and manners of death in cases of autoerotic deaths. Read More

J Forensic Odontostomatol 2020 May 15;1(38):34-38. Epub 2020 May 15.

Forensic Odontology, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

Background: In contemporary forensic practice, Medicine and Dentistry combine forces to improve the search for the cause of death and human identification. The pink tooth phenomenon (PTP) is a cadaveric sign that allegedly manifests more often in victims of asphyxia. However, the scientific literature is scarce and controversial on this aspect. Read More

Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi 2020 Feb;36(1):61-65

Department of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650500, China.

Abstract: Objective To retrospectively analyze 40 cases of hanging and 33 cases of ligature strangulation in Kunming, to explore the neck injury characteristics and similarities and differences of related asphyxia signs of corpses in hanging and ligature strangulation cases, in order to provide reference for forensic identification. Methods Statistics of hanging and ligature strangulation cases accepted by Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau from 2000 to 2017 were collected. Data including the gender, age, injury tool, neck injury and related asphyxia signs of the deceased in hanging and ligature strangulation cases were statistically tested by SPSS 23. Read More

Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2020 06 27;16(2):234-242. Epub 2020 Mar 27.

Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse, 190/52, CH-8057, Zurich, Switzerland.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the added value of postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to postmortem computed tomography (CT) and autopsy in cases of fatal hanging. In addition, the study analyzed the strengths of each examination method regarding typical injuries in these cases. We investigated a cohort of 25 decedents who underwent CT, MRI and autopsy. Read More

Pediatr Crit Care Med 2020 05;21(5):443-450

Center for Clinical and Translation Research, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH.

Objectives: Nosocomial infection is a common source of morbidity in critically injured children including those with traumatic brain injury. Risk factors for nosocomial infection in this population, however, are poorly understood. We hypothesized that critically ill pediatric trauma patients with traumatic brain injury would demonstrate higher rates of nosocomial infection than those without traumatic brain injury. Read More

Ann Emerg Med 2020 03 4;75(3):329-338. Epub 2019 Oct 4.

Department of Emergency Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN. Electronic address:

Study Objective: There is a paucity of evidence to guide the diagnostic evaluation of emergency department (ED) patients presenting after nonfatal strangulation (manual strangulation or near hanging). We seek to define the rate of serious injuries in alert strangled patients and determine which symptoms and examination findings, if any, predict such injuries.

Methods: Using prospectively populated databases and electronic medical record review, we performed a retrospective analysis of alert strangled patients treated in the ED of an academic Level I trauma center. Read More

J Forensic Odontostomatol 2019 May 1;37(1):26-31. Epub 2019 May 1.

Department of Health Sciences, Section of Medical Forensic Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Burned bodies raise relevant issues for forensic patologist and odontologist both for the identification and the cause of death and possible vital burning.. The tongue protrusion is regularly investigated for the death caused by strangulation or hanging, whilst seems to be overlooked in case of charred remains as the significance of this sign is still discussed. Read More