Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology

Introduction:  Background: The age of menarche is an important milestone in a life of a  woman. It is a sign of maturity of a girl to undergo sexual life. Some studies  have shown that there is significant decline in the mean age of menarche in  developed countries. Menarche is primarily important because of its timing  within puberty and its sensitivity to environmental changes. Mean age of  Menarche is an indicator of population health, well-being, and socio-economic  status, and declines under improved environmental conditions. Objective:To study the age at menarche in the Mthatha area of South Africa. Method: This is a descriptive study from the records of Sinawe center between  1st January and 31st December 2008. The Sinawe Center is the only center  who deals with all the cases of sexual assaults in the area. The retrospective  method is applied to recall their age at menarche at the time of examination  of victim of sexual assault from all the rape survivals who has presented to  Sinawe Center. Result: There were 636 subjects of rape recorded in Sinawe Center. Of this,  the age of menarche was found recorded in 464 cases. The youngest age group  (11-15 years) were 86 (18.5%) of subjects in this study. Of this, among 8 (1.7%)  were having age at menarche under 12 years of age, 50 (10.7%) were between  12 and 13 years, 28(6%) were 14 and 15 years of age group. The mean age  of menarche is 13.94 years. The maximum age at menarche was 15.64 years  amongst 46 to 50 years old women, and the minimum was 12.56 years amongst  11- and 15-years old girls (p=<0.05, 2 =216). There were 32 (6.9%) women who  were above the age group of 50 years. Among them, the age at menarche was  ranged from 14.67 to 14.85.  Conclusion: There is a decreasing trend in the age of menarche in the Transkei  region of South Africa. It is a matter of concern.

Introduction:  Upper GI diseases (lesions) are frequently seen in clinical practice. These are  associated with mortality and morbidity in patients with GI lesions. Early  diagnosis of inflammatory disorders, infectious diseases, physical, mechanical  and toxic reactions and neoplasms of upper gastrointestinal tract is possible  with endoscopic biopsies with its histopathological correlation.  Materials and methods: This prospective study was carried out on 162  patients in Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical college, Hospital and research centre, Pune  for a period of 2 years from June 2019-2021. Biopsy specimens were fixed in  10% formalin and routinely processed in Haematoxylin & Eosin stain. Results:  A total of 250 biopsy samples were obtained from 162 patients of which  188(75%) were from Stomach, 33 (13%) from Duodenum, 25(10%) from  Esophagus and 2% from gastro esophageal junction. Maximum biopsies were  carried out in the age group of 31-40 years. 149 (64.19%) of biopsies were  from males and 101 (35.8%) were from females. Among the total cases, 140  (86.41%) were non neoplastic lesions whereas 22 (13.58%) were neoplastic  lesions. Epigastric pain seen in 71 (43.8%) was the commonest symptom  ofupper gastrointestinal lesions.  Conclusion: The upper GI endoscopy helps in early detection of several  mucosal lesions, diagnosis of malignancies at early stages and of clinically  suspected lesions leading to prompt treatment.

Introduction: Poisoning is an important public health problem causing significant morbidity and mortality throughout the world especially in the developing countries. The cause for unintentional deaths due to poisoning may be due to easy availability and unsafe storage of poisonous substances like pesticides, insecticides etc. Modern day stressful life style may be the cause for such intentional poisoning. Pattern of poisoning in a region depends upon various factors, ranging from availability and access of poison to the socio-economic status of the individual. The present prospective study is undertaken to determine the burden of morbidity and mortality of poisoning cases at tertiary hospital of this region and to demonstrate the socio-demographic profile. Material and Methods: A cross-sectionalstudy was conducted on all cases of poisoning admitted and/or autopsied at Belgaum Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS) Hospital, Belgaum, during a period spread over 18 months. Information about the victims, the type of poison, manner of poisoning are obtained from hospital records, police records and by direct interrogation with the relatives and others accompanying the victim & chemical examiner’s report (Regional Forensic Science Laboratory). Results: Out of 9068 admitted patients, 804 cases were of poisoning, 706 patients were admitted to medical ward and 98 victims were declared brought dead to casualty. Out of 706, 568 patients were recovered and discharged and 138 victims expired. In our study mortality rate is 19.5% and morbidity is 7.78%. Peak occurrence was in the age group of 20-29 years (39.30%). Male predominance was seen (64.1%). Most of the victims are rural habitant (65.54%) and involves upper lower class group (40%). Hindu population was most affected (92.78%). More cases were reported during winter season (50.12 %). Present study shows 93.15% cases are suicidal in nature, accidental poisoning constituted 5.59 % and 1% of homicidal cases of total number of cases. Insecticides accounts for 57.96% in that organo phosphorous compounds constitutes (68.24%).Conclusion: The commonest poisoning agent was Organ phosphorus. The occurrence was high among married males and in the age group of 20–29 years. Maximum number of cases was reported during winter season. The incidence of poisoning and its morbidity and mortality can be reduced by developing and implementation of effective prevention strategies. keywords | Poisoning; Insecticides; Mortality; Morbidity; Organ phosphorus.

Introduction:  Lip prints, like fingerprints, are unique to each person and are simple to record.  Cheiloscopic analysis has been demonstrated to be effective in both judging  deformity and identifying individuals. Many studies have been conducted on  lip prints and its relationship with individual’s skeletal pattern. Aim: The goal of this study was to see if there was a link between lip print  and skeletal malocclusion, as well as how reliable it was as a forensic tool for  identifying people. Material & Method: Lip prints were collected from 180 people, 60 of whom  were from Kerala, 60 from Karnataka, and 60 from Kodagu, regardless of  their dental class I, class II, or class III malocclusion. Lip prints were captured  using the lipstick cellophane method and categorised using Tsuchihashi’s  categorization system: Type I, Type I’, Type II, Type III, Type IV, Type V. Results: We have noticed that the most common lip pattern among Karnataka  and Coorg Population was type II and in Kerala population was type I.  Conclusion: We conclude our research by stating that lip prints are a useful  and important diagnostic tool for identifying individuals of various ethnic  backgrounds, and that there is a strong correlation between skeletal growth  patterns of various ethnicities and their lip patterns. .keywords | Cheiloscopy; Lip prints; Skeletal malocclusion; Forensic too

Introduction Aim: To establish correlation between stature and palm lengths and individual finger length of both the hands in both males and females separately in South Indian population. Settings and design: The present study was set up in the department of anatomy of Al Ameen Medical College, Bijapur. Among the volunteers, 300 healthy adults of age group 18-30 years were selected for the study. Materials and Methods: Stature was measured using Standard Stadiometer and palm and finger length were measured using Vernier caliper. Statistical analysis Used: Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Regression equation formulas for stature estimation were calculated for all the parameters using trial version of SPSS software. Result:all the parameters displayed positive and significant correlation with stature in given population. Regression equations were calculated to estimate stature from given palm length or finger lengths. Conclusion: There exists a definite correlation between stature with palm and finger length in both males and females included in the study.

Introduction: Age estimation is an essential assignment in clinical forensic medicine. In forensic medicine department of Medical College, Kolkata, dental age is assessed by noting eruption/emergence of respective tooth and skeletal age is estimated by observing appearance and fusion of secondary ossification centres on the skiagram, in reference to Galstaun’s chart. Both are age-old and have significant observer variations. This study is done to ascertain applicability of these methods to contemporary population. Objectives:To determine correlation between dental, skeletal and chronological age of the study population. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional and observational study was performed on 52 Bengali subjects of 6-18 years age (36 male and 16 female) excluding subjects with obvious skeletal or developmental abnormalities and without valid documentation of age. Pearson’s coefficient was applied to measure the correlation, as mentioned. Results: Chronological age was found to be positively correlated with dental and skeletal age and found to be statistically significant (p<0.01). The correlation between dental and skeletal age was also found to be statistically significant (p<0.01). Conclusion: The routine methods used for age estimation is simple, cost effective, easy to perform with minimum training and is still applicable to the contemporary population.

introduction: Background: Agriculture is one of the main source of income in rural India. Recent times have seen a lot of advancements in the chemicals used for pest control to improve the quality of crops. However, the ease of availability and the high toxicity of these chemicals has led to accidental as well as deliberate casualties due to poisoning. Material and Methods:A retrospective study was conducted at VIMS Bellary between the years 2016 to 2020 by collecting data from the postmortem reports of deaths due to organophosphorus poisoning. The sample size of the present study constituted 725 poisoning cases.Information about the age and sex of the victims , the type of poison, chemical examiners report occupation, socio- economic and marital status were collected from the inquest reports furnished by the Investigating authorities. Results: In the present study it was found that the mortality was more in males compared to females and majority of cases was found in people involved in agricultural profession in rural areas under low income group. Conclusion: The study concludes that organophosphorus poisoning is more common in rural India with lower socioeconomic status.

introduction: Background: Audited information on the causes of death is one of the basic components of a country’s health information system. Data are usually derived from death certificates. A critical analysis of Ras-Al-Kheimah (RAK) hospitals’ death certification was done establish the quality of care. Such an audit is simple, cheap, and useful for monitoring the quality of services. Objective: To determine the accuracy of death certification by doctors in the RAK Hospital. Method: Second year medical students were assigned to collect copies of death certificates as a part of their assignment from a prominent RAK hospital. They were divided into two groups. A lecture on death certification was delivered prior to the students going to the hospital. Students examined the certificates, and the results were displayed. Results: Fifty-one death certificates were collected from the RAK hospital. A majority 36 (70.58%) of them were for males, and their mean age was 42 years. There were 14 females (29.41%) in this study. About half (49%) of them were foreigners from 14 different countries. Cardiac failure was the commonest (70.58%) cause of death, followed by respiratory failure (11.76%). Conclusion: Cardio-respiratory failure as a cause of death was found in the majority (82.34%) of cases as per the death certificates from the RAK hospital.