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Introduction. Herein we present an illustrative case from the Forensic Museum collection made by Professor Milovan Milovanović (1884–1948). Museum specimen No. 465 represents a jar containing three glass syringes and two small bottles of 10–20 ml, sealed with corks, found in the pockets of the deceased whose autopsy was performed in 1929. Case outline. It was a 30-year-old male, found dead in a tavern shed, a former medical student, lieutenant, and Russian emigre who came to Belgrade, Serbia in 1921 following the commanding general of the anti-Bolshevik White Army, Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel. He was an alcoholic, a drug user, and a member of the so-called Russian cocaine quartet gang. In the autopsy report, Professor Milovanović described a textbook example of a drug user: extremely malnourished body, skin covered with scabs, multiple „purulent abscesses” and „livid infiltrations,” and attenuated nasal septum with mucosa covered with scabs. Internal autopsy findings included fatty liver, pneumonia, and anemia of all internal organs. At the time, the whole brain, tissue of internal organs, and contents of the stomach and intestines were used for the analysis (“the Stas–Otto method for extraction of alkaloids”). Qualitative analyses showed “the presence of cocaine” in all the examined organs, and the analysis of the content from the “cloudy, colorless liquid” found in the dark bottle showed that it contained “0.0113 g of morphinum hydrochloricum.” Conclusion. Contemporary analyses of the material from one of the syringes and the transparent glass bottle performed 90 years later showed the presence of cocaine, morphine, and codeine, confirming that the cause of death was drug-related.

Introduction. The occurrence of gastric mucosal ruptures during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is contributed to extensive gastric distention, either due to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or the use of a bag and mask, or inappropriate intubation that may lead to gastric hyperinflation, which then creates gastric distension and further promotes gastric rupture. The presented case suggests that there might be another mechanism – chest compressions during CPR. Case outline. We present a case of an 84-year-old woman who died due to severe chronic ischemic heart disease after unsuccessful resuscitation. The autopsy revealed a presence of several shallow ruptures of gastric mucosa on the lesser curvature, 1–3 cm in length, with surrounding mucosal hemorrhage, and without bleeding in the gastric cavity. Conclusion. Gastric mucosal ruptures could occur due to a combination of two mechanisms: pressure propagation due to chest compression and gastric hyperinflation [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 45005]

The Institute of Forensic Medicine, as part of the University School of Medicine in Belgrade, Serbia, was founded in 1923 by Professor Milovan Milovanović (1884–1948). In addition to several medical textbooks in modern Serbian for medical students, as well as 37 original papers published in Serbian, German, and French medical journals, Professor Milovanović also published a famous monograph entitled “Suicide” in 1929. In 1948, Professor Milovanović himself committed suicide under obscure circumstances. The reason he committed suicide remains unknown. In this paper we tried to reconstruct the way he wrote his monograph using data from his hand-writing manuscripts preserved at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. Also, some new data about his suicide have been exposed. Since 2008, the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade has been named after Professor Milovan Milovanović.

This article provides a commentary on a case report that examines the mechanisms of fat embolism syndrome (FES) in atraumatic compartment syndrome. It discusses the different types of fat embolism, such as pulmonary and systemic, and explains the mechanical and biochemical theories of fat embolism pathogenesis. The authors highlight the importance of recognizing fat embolism as a cause of death in forensic pathology. Additionally, the article includes citations for two related articles that provide further information on post-traumatic fat embolism, which can be accessed through the Wiley Online Library. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction. When the coronary artery, located subepicardially, submerges into the myocardium and appears again subepicardially after a short intramural course, it represents an embedded coronary artery, while the part of the myocardium above is a myocardial bridge. Objective. We investigated the frequency of the embedded left coronary artery (LAD) in the autopsy material considering the descending branch of the LAD to be the most important one in the nourishment of the myocardium and myocardial bridges to be the most frequent in its area, as well as clinically important. Methods. A prospective autopsy study of 975 cases was performed, including both, natural (21.33%) and violent (78.67%) deaths. The sample consisted of 74.56% males and 25.44% females. In order to discover myocardyal bridges and their characteristics, the hearts were examined by both transverse cuts and longitudinal openings of the LAD. Results. Myocardial bridge was found in 78 cases (8.00%), more commonly in males (9.35%) than females (4.03%). The average length of the myocardial bridge was 21.85±16.10mm and thickness 3.744±1.48 mm. The common localization of the myocardial bridge was the proximal half of the LAD (89.74%). The upper part of the artery, proximal to the bridge, was a common site of atherosclerotic changes. Myocardial bridge was found in 12.50% of natural deaths, but in 13.38% out of all cases of sudden cardiac deaths. Conclusion. Therefore, the presence of the myocardial bridge by itself is not predominant, but it is certainly a contributing factor to a sudden cardiac death. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 175093]

Hanging is a form of ligature strangulation in which the force applied to the neck is derived from the gravitational drag of one’s own body weight. A furrow - dessication is the most common form of ligature mark on the skin. The furrow is a postmortem phenomenon due to ligature pressure and it is more detectable as the suspension time becomes longer. Vital reaction is a phenomenon that shows if the injury was premortal. Vital signs could be present at the injury site, thus it is termed as local, but they could also be remote from the injury site, and then they are termed general vital signs. The presence and recognition of any vital reaction in each pathoforensic case indicate vitality of certain injury, which is sometimes exceptionally useful in solving the case under investigation. Although in cases of hanging there is usually no question about the vitality of injury, this does not mean that one should not recognize the type of vital reactions and location of occurrence of these phenomena in such cases. Most often they can be also useful in the reconstruction of the mechanism. This paper presents most common vital reactions in hanging, with explanation of their underlying mechanisms, and their significance in forensic pathology is pointed out. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 45005]

Introduction. The Institute of Forensic Medicine was founded by Professor Milovan Milovanović (1884- 1948) in 1923 as part of School of Medicine of the University of Belgrade, and also established the Institute’s forensic collection worthy of a museum. This paper illustrates the way Professor Milovanović made this collection into a teaching aid for student education. We present a case of crime of passion from the year 1931, from our Institute’s collection. Case Outline. The victim was a 30-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds of the head, neck and arms. It was noted in the case history that the deceased woman was a maid with a wealthy merchant, as well as that she had “dubious morals” for that time, with three wooers at the same time. Injuries to the forearms and the index finger prove that the victim tried to defend herself. In the autopsy record there is a drawn figure of a kitchen knife with a rounded blade tip, which explains the absence of stab wounds to the skull, and the presence of the impression skull fractures and crushed skull bones. It was concluded that the death occurred due to exsanguination, in turn due to transection of the left carotid artery, probably caused by sharp force, while the manner of death was homicide. Some of the most prominent autopsy findings were multiple mutilating overkill sharp force injuries, localized on the head, indicated sexually motivated murder. Conclusion. Combining the museum specimen, diagrams with injuries, drawn figure of the kitchen knife used, and photographs taken during the autopsy and the police investigation, Professor Milovanović was able to properly illustrate this intriguing case to students without a computer or a PowerPoint presentation. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 45005]