Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology

Autopsy surgeons not only deal with unnatural deaths, but also deal with a wide range of deaths from natural causes, which are of sudden, unexpected or clinically undiagnosed cases. It is pertinent for an autopsy surgeon to be aware of the causes of sudden natural death. Here is a case of sudden death due to cerebrovascular accident with suspicion of foul play is reported. The suspicion of foul play was negated by an autopsy of the dead body aided with psychological autopsy of the family of the deceased.

Keywords: Sudden death; Cerebrovascular accident; Autopsy; Psychological autopsy. 

Lightning is a massive electrostatic discharge between the electrically charged regions within clouds or between a cloud and the surface of a planet. The charged regions within the atmosphere temporarily equalize themselves through a lightning flash, commonly referred to as a strike if it hits an object on the ground. Humans or animals struck by lightning may suffer severe injuries or even death due to internal organ and nervous system damage. A lightning strike can cause death or various injuries to one or several persons. The mechanism of injury is unique, and the manifestations differ from those of other electrical injuries. The case described in this report illustrate diverse injuries and circumstances in which death is attributable to lightning can occur and how to proceed during autopsy examination in cases of suspected death by lightning. 

Keywords:Lightning;Electrostatic discharge;Planet. 

Injury to skull and its contents due to direct or indirect trauma is a common occurrence as well as cause of death in majority of accidents. We present a case wherein an industrial worker suffered penetrating ocular injury resulting in cranial trauma and death. The heated iron rod penetrated the eye, travelled below upwards from front to back, fractured the roof of orbit, causing penetrating injury to the brain.This case recommends use of protective eye gear for all workers in hazardous jobs.

Keywords: Occular trauma; Brain injury; Industrial accident. 

The present study was carried in the Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, SCB Medical College, Cuttack, Odisha during the year 2010 to 2012 with aim and objective to determine the various method and motive to conceal the evidence of Homicidal cases by the assailants after committing the crime. Total 111 cases of homicidal deaths were subjected to autopsy and various relevant data were taken from history, inquest report and dead body challan. Garment study and post mortem findings are also taken into consideration. Out of it there were 22 cases (19.81%) showed some evidence of concealment and comprises various methods and motives. The assailants tried to hide the identification of victim, manner and place of occurrence to be out of suspicion to escape from the crime and also to maintain reputation. So with careful, systemized and meticulous examination of homicidal cases can lead to a definite conclusion and help the crime investigation agency away from misguide by the assailants and help to uncover the mask on concealment. 

Keywords: Concealment; Homicide;Meticulous examination. 

Aim: To determine if an association exists between dermatoglyphic patterns and occurrence of dental caries among 12 year old school children in Mangalore. Settings and Design: A cross sectional study conducted in school settings. Methods and Material: A total of 183, 12-year old school children were selected using simple random sampling. Dental caries experience was assessed using the Decayed, Missing and Filled Tooth index. Dermatoglyphic patterns of the fingers and the total ridge count were recorded using the ink stamp pad method and analysed using a 2x magnifying glass. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square test and one way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis of collected data. Results: The mean DMFT score of this population was 2.83 ± 2.53 whereas mean dmft score was 0.84 ± 1.64. Chi-square analysis showed a statistically significant frequency of whorls in the 2nd finger in children with a dental caries experience of more than 3 (p<0.05). The total ridge count also showed a statistically significant relation with dental caries experience, when the one way ANOVA test was used (p<0.05). In children with higher dental caries experience, the total ridge count was less and vice versa. Conclusions: Dermatoglyphic patterns and total ridge count could be a novel method to determine the population at risk for dental caries, thus providing a vital component in the search for an acceptable, accurate and cost-effective predictor for identifying high risk individuals.

Keywords: Caries risk assessment; Dermatoglyphics; Dental caries; School children. 

Background: In forensic practice , violent asphyxial deaths are common incident and determination of manner of violent asphyxial deaths by Post Mortem examination is of utmost significance. This study is conducted to know the status of mode of violent asphyxial deaths in this region of India. Materials & Method: It is a retrospective study conducted at Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Government Medical College, Akola during the period of Jan 2011 to Dec. 2012. The information was collected from the police inquest, post mortem reports and hospital records. Result: Total 2602 autopsies were carried out during the study period and out of which 261 cases were of violent asphyxial deaths (10.03%). The males were outnumbered the females. Hanging was the commonest method of violent asphyxial deaths (72.41%) followed by drowning (23.37%). Only 2.68% of cases were of strangulation. Majority (63.21%) of victims of violent asphyxial deaths were belongs to rural areas. Conclusion: The majority was males (75.09%) from age group of 21-30 years (30.65%) and hanging was the most common mode of violent asphyxia death.

Keywords: Asphyxia; Hanging; Strangulation; Drowning; Suffocation; Akola; Maharashtra; Vidarbha. 

Background and Purpose: Nurses, both as part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team or as individual service/care providers to patients with terminal illness and critical illnesses, are posed with imposed demands to understand, evaluate, document and communicate events leading to and the event of death investigations done by forensic medicine and pathology.The objective of this study was to assess the attitudes towards death in a sample of Indian nursing students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 52 nursing students (all female) who were recruited on convenient sampling. The survey instrument used in this study was Death Attitudes Profile-Revised (DAP-R) which was a 32-item scale with responses on a 7-point Likert scale and five distinct dimensions- Fear of Death (7 items), Death Avoidance (5 items), Neutral Acceptance (5 items), Approach Acceptance (10 items) and Escape Acceptance (5 items). Descriptive analysis was done using frequencies for each of the items and item-responses of the DAP-R and study participants’ demographic variables. Comparison of total scores and subscale scores between age and religion were done using independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance respectively. All analyses were done at 95% confidence interval using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 for Windows. Results: Fear of Death score was 32.78 ± 4.02 (4.68 ±.57%), Death Avoidance was 23.78 ± 4.03 (4.75 ±.80%), Neutral Acceptance was 24.96 ± 4.53 (4.99 ±.90%), Approach Acceptance was 47.82 ± 5.77 (4.78 ±.57%), Escape Acceptance was 21.44 ± 4.92 (4.28 ±.98%). Overall DAP-R score was 150.78 ± 17.48 and it was found that Death avoidance and Escape acceptance was significantly higher (p<.05) in younger students and Christian students respectively. Conclusion: Nursing students had fairly neutral attitudes towards death, while death avoidance was common in younger students and escape acceptance was higher among Christian students.

Keywords: Self-esteem; Self-concept; Nursing profession; Nursing education; Personality development.