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Tool marks on bones induced by knife blades can be analysed morphometrically in order to enable an allocation of the suspected “inflicting weapon” to the particular morphology of the bone lesions. Until now, geometric morphometrics has not been used to analyse the morphology of knife lesions on fleshed bones in detail. By using twelve experimental knives and a drop weight tower, stab/cut injuries were inflicted on untreated pig ribs. The morphology of the experimentally produced lesions was subsequently recorded with three imaging techniques (μCT, macro photography and SEM) and analysed with different morphometric software (Amira, tps and Morpheus). Based on the measured distances between the walls of the kerf marks, which corresponded to the thickness of the blade, one could conclude to the respective blade thickness with a deviation of max. ±0.35 mm and match the injuries to the knives. With subsequent reanalysis after maceration, an average shrinkage factor up to 8.6% was observed. Among the three imaging techniques used in this study, μCT was the most accurate and efficient technique, particularly because it represented the only non-destructive modality to document injuries without maceration, even though μCT is more expensive and time-consuming as well as less accessible than a macro SLR-camera or a SEM. For optimal characterizations of the blades’ and kerfs’ shapes the software tps proofed to be the best choice. Accordingly, geometric morphometrics could serve as a tool in forensic investigations concerning kerf marks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tool marks on bones induced by knife blades can be analysed morphometrically in order to enable an allocation of the suspected "inflicting weapon" to the particular morphology of the bone lesions. Until now, geometric morphometrics has not been used to analyse the morphology of knife lesions on fleshed bones in detail. By using twelve experimental knives and a drop weight tower, stab/cut injuries were inflicted on untreated pig ribs. The morphology of the experimentally produced lesions was subsequently recorded with three imaging techniques (μCT, macro photography and SEM) and analysed with different morphometric software (Amira, tps and Morpheus). Based on the measured distances between the walls of the kerf marks, which corresponded to the thickness of the blade, one could conclude to the respective blade thickness with a deviation of max. ±0.35mm and match the injuries to the knives. With subsequent reanalysis after maceration, an average shrinkage factor up to 8.6% was observed. Among the three imaging techniques used in this study, μCT was the most accurate and efficient technique, particularly because it represented the only non-destructive modality to document injuries without maceration, even though μCT is more expensive and time-consuming as well as less accessible than a macro SLR-camera or a SEM. For optimal characterizations of the blades' and kerfs' shapes the software tps proofed to be the best choice. Accordingly, geometric morphometrics could serve as a tool in forensic investigations concerning kerf marks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The authors describe a new, easy-to-use barcode-based tissue collection, preservation and body tracking system, which might prove instrumental in the containment of mass fatalities such as aircraft accidents, war related accidents, environmental disasters (e.g. earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods) terrorist bombings or mass murders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Immature development times of the blow fly Protophormia terraenovae (Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830) were studied in the laboratory at five different constant temperatures (15, 20, 25, 30, 35 °C). The minimal duration of development from oviposition to adult emergence was inversely related to temperature, ranging from 9.19±0.3 days at 35 °C to 37.78±2.96 days at 15 °C. From linear regression of development rates at the five studied constant temperature regimes, it followed that the minimum development threshold (tL) for total immature development is 8.95 °C (∼9 °C) and the overall thermal constant (K) for P. terraenovae is 240.2±9.3 day-degrees (DD) above the threshold. Linear regression of developmental rates from oviposition to pupariation resulted in a minimum development threshold of 9.8 °C. However, it is possible that developmental time from oviposition to adult eclosion might be different in various regions of the world, and that the thermal constant of a holarctic species like P. terraenovae is not same everywhere. Additionally, as the present paper shows, studies characterizing variation in these parameters between geographically distinct populations of the same species would be of great value for future forensic entomological casework. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Focuses on the benefits from biosurgical debridement in the healint of chronic skin ulcers. Outcomes of Maggot Debridement Therapy; Problems associated with chronic skin ulcers.

Recent technological advances have broadened the application of palaeoradiology for non-destructive investigation of ancient remains. X-ray microtomography (microCT) in particular is increasingly used as an alternative to histological bone sections for interpreting pathological alterations, trauma, microstructure, and, more recently, bioerosion with direct or ancillary use of histological indices. However, no systematic attempt has been made to confirm the reliability of microCT for histotaphonomic analysis of archaeological bone. The objective of this study is therefore to compare thin sections of human femora rated with the Oxford Histological Index to microCT sections using the newly developed Virtual Histological Index in order to provide an accessible methodology for the evaluation of bioerosion in archaeological bone. We provide detailed descriptions of virtual sections and assess the efficacy of the method on cranial and postcranial elements, cremated long bones, and faunal samples. The traditional histological and virtual methods showed a strong correlation, providing the first systematic data substantiating lab-based microCT as a suitable alternative tool for reconstructing post-mortem history in the archaeological record, and for the reliable, non-destructive screening of samples for further analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Aim of this study was to assess pathomorphologic findings (PATHO) in patients with echocardiographically (ECHO) diagnosed left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction. Methods: ECHO-criteria for LVHT were: >3 trabeculations, moving synchronously with the compacted myocardium, and forming the noncompacted part of a two-layered myocardium. At autopsy, the hearts were investigated according to the pathologists' preferences. Results: Twelve patients (2 females, age 27–81years) were included. Seven suffered from neuromuscular disorders, 5 patients were not investigated neurologically. The specimens were acquired after explantation during heart transplantation (n=1), death due to heart failure (n=6), sudden death (n=2), pneumonia (n=2) and stroke (n=1). Eight hearts were investigated without fixation and 4 after formaldehyde fixation. The hearts were opened along the long-axis, in 3 hearts additional short-axis cuts were carried out. At PATHO the trabecular meshwork was better visible in the formaldehyde-fixed hearts than in the fresh hearts. Differentiation from papillary muscles was easier on the long-axis cuts, whereas the two-layered structure was better visible on short-axis cuts. The trabecular pattern was similar in patients with neuromuscular disorders and those who did not undergo neurologic investigation. Subendocardial fibrosis was found in each case. Due to the complex three-dimensional geometry, it was impossible to count the number of trabeculations. Conclusion: Formaldehyde-fixation should be performed when comparing ECHO with PATHO findings in LVHT. Long-axis as well as short-axis cuts should be carried out in order to assess the course of trabeculations and the extent of the two-layered structure. Subendocardial fibrosis in LVHT deserves further research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objectives: Disappearance of left ventricular hypertrabeculation (LVHT) over time has been occasionally recognized, but absence on echocardiography and autopsy and presence on histological examination after autopsy has not been reported. Methods: Routine investigations such as chocardiography, cardiac MRI and coronary angiography were applied. Autopsy studies included macroscopic inspection and dissection but also histological work-up. Results: In a 64-year-old male, LVHT was diagnosed at age 51 years during diagnostic work-up for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He had a history of mitochondrial myopathy which was diagnosed long before the cardiac problem became evident. Thickening of the left ventricular myocardium increased over years, resulting also in thickening of the trabeculations and the disappearance of the intertrabecular recesses. This is why LVHT was no longer visible on echocardiography shortly before death at age 64 years. The autopsy revealed that macroscopically no LVHT was visible but upon histological work-up the preformed recesses were still visible but had become unfolded. Conclusions: This case shows that LVHT may disappear due to thickening of the trabeculations but may remain visible on postmortem histological examination in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy from a mitochondrial myopathy. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Aim of the study: There is sufficient evidence that therapeutic hypothermia after non-traumatic cardiac arrest improves neurological outcome and reduces mortality. Many different invasive and non-invasive cooling devices are currently available. Our purpose was to show the efficacy, safety and feasibility using a non-invasive cooling device to control patient temperature within a range of 33–37°C. Materials and methods: A convenience sample of patients who have been resuscitated successfully from cardiac arrest and were intended for mild hypothermia therapy according to the guidelines and inclusion criteria were studied in a prospective observational case series at an emergency department of a tertiary care university hospital. The Medivance Arctic Sun System provides a new, non-invasive approach to reach a target temperature of 33°C quickly, to maintain the target temperature for 24h, and then to actively re-warm at 0.4°C/h to normothermia. Cooling was applied using the Arctic Sun in 27 patients. Data are presented as median and the interquartile range (25, 75%). Results: Median age was 58 (49.5, 70) years. Time from cooling start to target temperature was 137 (96, 168)min, cooling rate was 1.2°C/h (0.8, 1.5), stability of target temperature during hypothermia maintenance phase was satisfactory at 33.0°C (32.9, 33.1), and duration of re-warming was 428 (394, 452)min. Conclusion: Using the Arctic Sun System in post-resuscitation care medicine for cooling cardiac arrest survivors is feasible and has proven to be highly effective in lowering patients’ temperature rapidly without inducing skin irritations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aim of the study: The effectiveness and safety of non-invasive surface cooling was compared to invasive endovascular cooling in an animal model. Methods: Eight healthy pigs (29–38kg) were cooled twice, starting in the first 4 pigs with unique surface cooling pads followed by endovascular cooling. In the second 4 pigs the order was reversed. The goal was to quickly lower pulmonary artery temperature from 38 to 33°C. A paired t-test was used to compare cooling rates (°C/h, mean±standard deviation) between both cooling techniques. Results: Mean non-invasive surface cooling rate (11.9±3.8°C/h) significantly exceeded mean invasive cooling rate (3.9±0.7°C/h; p <0.001). The mean difference in cooling rates was 8.0±3.6°C/h. No surface cooling related adverse skin reactions were observed. Conclusions: Surface cooling is a simple method for achieving fast cooling rates. In our animal model, non-invasive cooling was three times faster than rapid endovascular cooling without overshoot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Pregnancy has been reported to be an independent risk factor for 50% of acute aortic dissections recorded in women younger than 45 years of age. The present epidemiologic study aimed to identify whether this putative association of pregnancy and acute type A dissection could be an artifact of selective reporting. Methods: This population-based study was conducted in the City of Vienna, Austria, Europe, in an average female population of 341381 women in the age range of 15–45 years who were followed up between 1994 and 2004 (total of 3755.195 person-years of observation). During this study, the incidence, management, and outcome of acute type A dissection were determined. Results: Fifteen patients (mean age: 38.8 years, SD: 4.8) with acute aortic dissection were identified, and an overall incidence of 0.4 case per 100000 person-years was estimated. The prehospital mortality rate was recorded to be 53%. Six patients, including two women in late pregnancy (incidence: 0.05 cases per 100000 person-years), were treated successfully by surgical repair during deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (in-hospital mortality rate: 6.6%). Pregnancy and aortic dissection were identified as events that were not related (RR: 3.27; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82–12.95; P =0.14). Observation during long-term follow-up was uneventful. Conclusions: Acute aortic dissection represents a rare pathology in women younger than 45 years of age; however, it is associated with a high rate of sudden death. Pregnancy may not be a risk factor for this life-threatening vascular emergency. Immediate referral to surgery, even during pregnancy, will result in a prognosis of favorable outcome. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]