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Allergic, IgE-mediated inflammation is thought to play a role in atherogenesis and atherosclerotic disease progression. In this study, total IgE and mast cell tryptase were measured in a series of forensic autopsy cases including non-allergic cardiac deaths (14 cases with minimal or no coronary atherosclerosis, 14 cases with significant coronary artery atherosclerosis without acute coronary thrombosis, and 14 cases with significant coronary artery atherosclerosis and acute coronary thrombosis or myocardial infarction) and non-allergic non-cardiac deaths (21 cases with death due to hanging and 21 cases with death due to intracranial gunshot wounds), in order to correlate laboratory results with morphological findings and compare them to conclusions reported in the clinical setting. In cardiac death cases, postmortem serum total IgE levels were increased in 7 out of 42 cases and mast cell tryptase levels were increased in 3 out of 42 cases. In non-cardiac death cases, postmortem serum total IgE levels were not increased in 39 out of 42 cases and mast cell tryptase levels were not increased in any of these cases. These preliminary findings seem to indicate that a portion of coronary deaths characterized by coronary artery atherosclerosis of various severities are also characterized by increased total IgE and mast cell tryptase levels, thus corroborating the data previously reported in both clinical and forensic literature on this topic as well as the necessity of combining morphological investigations focusing on the heart and coronary arteries with biochemical analyses.

From the epidemiological and criminological points of view, murders committed by minors, including both victims and perpetrators, differ from those observed in adults. Analysis of trends and characteristics of murders at national level could provide useful information to assess the phenomenon and address political and social choices aiming at preventing violence involving children and adolescents. This study focuses on the trends of murders in Italy during the period 2007–2015 and compares the data with those for other age groups. Data on murders regarding trends, gender, age and ethnic group from the Italian Institute of Statistics were analysed by chi-square with odds ratio and linear regression. Results show that, after standardization, murders involving minors as victims and perpetrators were less frequent with respect to data observed in all age groups. Trend analysis showed that murders involving minors remained stable in the period considered, but the stability of the rate of murders of minors was in contrast with reduced rates in other age groups. Among minors, males aged 14–17 are at higher risk of being the perpetrators and victims of homicide. The rate of perpetrators and victims among foreign-born minors was higher than that among the native-born. Further studies are needed to determine risk factors associated with these results and to propose preventive strategies through appropriate policies and interventions.

National statistics on female homicide could be a useful tool to evaluate the phenomenon and plan adequate strategies to prevent and reduce this crime. The aim of the study is to contribute to the analysis of intentional female homicides in Italy by comparing Italian trends to German and United States trends from 2008 to 2014. This is a population study based on data deriving primarily from national and European statistical institutes, from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting and from the National Center for Health Statistics. Data were analyzed in relation to trends and age by Chi-square test, Student's t-test and linear regression. Results show that female homicides, unlike male homicides, remained stable in the three countries. Regression analysis showed a higher risk for female homicide in all age groups in the U.S. Middle-aged women result at higher risk, and the majority of murdered women are killed by people they know. These results confirm previous findings and suggest the need to focus also in Italy on preventive strategies to reduce those precipitating factors linked to violence and present in the course of a relationship or within the family.

Death due to inhalation of aliphatic hydrocarbons such as butane and propane is a particularly serious problem worldwide, resulting in several fatal cases of sniffing these volatile substances in order to “get high”. Despite the number of cases published, there is not a unique approach to case management of fatal sniffing. In this paper we illustrate the volatile lipophilic substances management in a case of a prisoner died after sniffing a butane-propane gas mixture from prefilled camping stove gas canisters, discussing the comprehensive approach of the crime scene, the autopsy, histology and toxicology. A large set of accurate values of both butane and propane was obtained by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyzing the following post-mortem biological samples: peripheral blood, heart blood, vitreous humor, liver, lung, heart, brain/cerebral cortex, fat tissue, kidney, and allowed an in depth discussion about the cause of death. A key role is played by following the proper sampling approach during autopsy.

Femicide is the intentional killing of a woman because she is female, and often occurs when there are pre-existing relations, intimate or otherwise, between the victim and the murderer. A retrospective epidemiological study was made of 34 female homicides recorded in a university departmental register of post-mortems, pertaining to a judicial district of about 700,000 inhabitants in north eastern Italy, during a 21-year period from January 1st 1993 to December 31st 2013. The temporal trend, the socio-demographic characteristics of victims and perpetrators, the circumstances surrounding the crime and the risk factors for femicide were studied with the aim of identifying and developing preventive strategies.

Background Violent behavior has frequently been reported in cases of Capgras' delusion, a misidentification syndrome characterized by the false belief that imposters have replaced people familiar to the individual. Aims To better understand the relationship between Capgras' syndrome and violence. Method After a brief overview of the scientific knowledge of delusional misidentification syndromes, we present two cases of psychotic sons suffering from this kind of delusion who killed their mothers and we analyzed the phenomenology of Capgras' delusion in-depth, focusing on the role of this syndrome in the etiology of violence. Results Capgras' syndrome may be a specific risk factor for violence towards others, particularly the murder of the delusionally misidentified person. Conclusions Looking for the signs of Capgras' syndrome may be crucial to assessing the risk of violence in mentally disordered patients.