1,720,967 research outputs found
Misinterpretation of Anogenital Findings and Misdiagnosis of Child Sexual Abuse: The Role of the Forensic Pathologist
Full text linkBackground: The interpretation of anogenital postmortem findings is an issue of main concern, because the nature and appearance of anogenital tissues during the postmortem interval is not widely known by health providers. Case: An 8-year-old girl died in the hospital 48 hours after hospitalization. On the basis of the atypical anogenital findings, the health care professionals notified the fact to the Public Prosecutor as an alleged child abuse. The forensic pathologist ruled out this possibility, interpreting the anal findings due to physiological postmortem anal alterations and to the insertion of suppositories before death. Summary and Conclusion: Forensic pathological analysis should be included in routine postmortem evaluation in the case of suspected child sexual abuse, because normal postmortem findings could be misinterpreted by physicians, whose sole experience is on the basis of antemortem scenarios
Death after liposuction: Case report and review of the literature
No full textWe report the case of a 41-year-old woman who died after surgical intervention for liposuction. The case was studied by a methodological approach including examination of clinical records and documentation, analysis of anatomo-histopathological findings and evaluation of physicians' behaviour. Autopsy excluded the lethal complications most frequently associated with liposuction (pulmonary embolism, sepsis, necrotizing fasciitis, perforation of abdominal organs) and identified the cause of death as ‘massive necrosis of brain-stem and cerebellum, due to spontaneous thrombosis of the basilar and cerebellar district’. Analysis of the physicians' behaviour, together with a review of the literature, excluded medical errors or malpractice. The Court of Law ruled the death as a fatal unforeseeable complication of the operation. The medico-legal interest of the case lies in the singular anatomo-pathological cause of death, discussed in relation to the hypothesis of professional responsibility after surgical intervention for liposuction.</jats:p
Sequential development of hepatocellular carcinoma and liver angiosarcoma in a vinyl chloride–exposed worker
No full textStrong experimental and clinical evidences have definitely linked occupational vinyl chloride exposure to development of angiosarcoma of the liver. In contrast, despite the International Agency for Research on Cancer having included vinyl chloride among the causes of hepatocellular carcinoma, the association between vinyl chloride exposure and hepatocellular carcinoma remains debated. This issue is relevant, because occupational exposure to high levels of vinyl chloride may still occur. We report a unique case of sequential occurrences of hepatocellular carcinoma and angiosarcoma of the liver, in a vinyl chlorideâexposed worker without cirrhosis and any known risk factor for chronic liver disease. Both the hepatocellular carcinoma and the surrounding normal liver showed micronucleus formation, which reflects genotoxic effect of vinyl chloride. Angiosarcoma showed a KRAS G12D point mutation, which is considered to be characteristic of vinyl chlorideâinduced angiosarcoma. This case supports the pathogenic role of vinyl chloride in both hepatocellular carcinoma and angiosarcoma development
A case of chemical scalp burns after hair highlights: experimental evidence of oxidative injuries.
No full text<p>Hair highlights are quite common procedures carried out in hair salons by using a mixture of a lightening powder containing persulfates with a suspension containing hydrogen peroxide: a representative case of chemical scalp burns is described as a consequence of this treatment. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the strict relationship between the scalp damage and the commercial products used in a case of hair highlighting. The results of some chemical analyses have been reported, showing, in particular, that the chemical reactivity of the mixture changes in the time, thus strongly suggesting that the procedure for the application of the mixture is critical for the occurrence of possible accidents. The presence in the powder of chemical compounds bearing aliphatic chains as surfactants explains the appearance of dramatic symptoms after days due to a slow dissolution of the oxidant compounds in the stratum corneum of skin with no effect in reducing injury of palliative treatments. Safety suggestions and recommendations for producers and workers are also included.</p
Assessing fitness to drive in heavy vehicles drivers found driving under the influence: neurocognitive and forensic-toxicological approach
No full text
Non-fatal overdose with U-47700: Identification in biological matrices
No full textBACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE:
We report on a case of severe intoxication after insufflation of U-47700, a synthetic opioid that acts as a selective agonist of the μ-opioid receptor, and is several times more potent than morphine. A man in his 30s was found irresponsive in his apartment and was brought to the emergency department of a local hospital. A comatose state and severe respiratory depression were present. Hetero anamnesis revealed that the patient could have taken the substance named "U-47700", bought on the Internet. After supportive care, the patient fully recovered.
METHOD:
Urine, blood and a white powder found at his home were collected during his hospital stay and sent for testing using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) on an Orbitrap instrument. Later, his pubic hair was also collected. A standard comprehensive toxicology screening was performed.
RESULTS:
U-47700 was identified in all biological samples and in the seized white powder. Using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) the presence of U-47700 and its phase I and phase II metabolites in blood, urine and pubic hair was confirmed. U-47700 was determined at 94 ng/mL and 5.2 ng/mL in blood at the admission and the day after, respectively, and 3.02 ng/mg in pubic hair, together with its metabolites. No other opioid nor designer drug could be detected in blood and urine, while in pubic hair Cocaine, Benzoylecgonine, Norcocaine, Mephedrone, Ketamine, Norketamine, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabinol were also detected.
CONCLUSION:
The toxicological findings confirmed the use of U-47700 in the intoxicated patient and also revealed a history of a poly-drug use. The use of LC-HRMS allowed the easy identification of the NPS and its metabolites in fluids and hai
Hair analysis to discriminate voluntary doping vs inadvertent ingestion of the aromatase inhibitor letrozole
No full textLetrozole is an aromatase inhibitor, used to treat postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive or unknown advanced breast cancer. It is prohibited in sport because it is used together with androgen anabolizing steroids to avoid their adverse effects. In the case of an adverse analytical finding, it may be important to distinguish between repetitive use due to voluntary administration and occasional use, possibly due to involuntary intake. With the objective to identify the dose capable of producing a positive hair test, and to apply these results to the scenarios of inadvertent letrozole ingestion by an athlete, this study investigates the urinary excretion and incorporation into hair of single doses of letrozole. Seven subjects were recruited for an excretion study of letrozole and its metabolite bis(4-cyanophenyl) methanol (M1) in urine, after the consumption of 0.62 mg, 1.25 mg, and 2.5 mg of letrozole, and to investigate the incorporation in hair after ingestion of 0.62 mg and 2.5 mg of letrozole. Urine and hair samples were also obtained from two women in chronic therapy. Urinary concentrations of letrozole and its metabolite M1 were lower in subjects administered once with 0.62 mg, 1.25 mg, or 2.5 mg letrozole than in women in regular therapy with 2.5 mg/day. In hair collected after a single dosage, concentrations of 16-60 pg/mg were detected while in women in chronic therapy concentrations were higher than 160 pg/mg all along the hair shaft. Hair analysis turned to be a promising possibility for the discrimination of letrozole repetitive use vs occasional/inadvertent administration
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
- …
