Can a Postmortem Skin Biopsy Predict Cause of Death?

ABSTRACTElectrocution continues to be a major cause of death among workers because they and their employers do not recognize the importance of safety training and implementing safe practices. Part of the reason is that at home and on the job we take electricity for granted. Relying on the benefits of electricity, we may forget its hazards. Death due to electrocution can occur without any marks on body. Skin biopsy of an autopsy case of a male, plumber by occupation, who was brought dead to the hospital, was examined to find out the cause of death. Electrical marks were observed on his palm during autopsy and were supposedly thought to be the cause of death. The histopathology of skin lesion confirmed the diagnosis. We, hereby, report this case as the histopathology in electrocution has rarely been discussed in papers and it can aid in investigations to know the cause of death in unknown cases.

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Homicide among the Elderly: The Metro Dade County Experience, 1979–83

Medicine Science and the Law ◽

10.1177/002580248602600402 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 259-262 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Arthur R. Copeland

Keyword(s):

Blunt Trauma ◽

Cause Of Death ◽

Gunshot Wound ◽

White Male ◽

The Elderly ◽

Medical Examiner ◽

Dade County ◽

Homicide Victim ◽

At Home

The elderly homicide victim was studied. A total of 129 homicide cases in which the decedent was aged 65 years or more were collected from the records of the Office of the Medical Examiner between the years 1979–83. The cases were then analysed as to age, race, sex, cause of death, results of toxicology, and scene circumstances. The protatypical victim was found to be a 65– to 85-year-old white male who died from either a gunshot wound or blunt trauma resulting from a robbery or burglarly at home. Suggestions are given on how to avoid such tragedies.

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I. On the congelation of animals

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London ◽

10.1098/rspl.1866.0057 ◽

1867 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. 250-254

Keyword(s):

Cause Of Death ◽

Common Salt ◽

Great Care ◽

Loss Of Life ◽

Opposite Conclusion ◽

Single Exception ◽

Vera Causa ◽

At Home

In a very interesting and elaborate paper by M. Puget, entitled "Surla Congélation des Animaux,” published in the ‘Journal de l’Anatomie et de la Physiologie,’ the Number for January and February of this year, he refers to a statement of mine, made many years ago, that the leech may be frozen without loss of life. The experiments which he has instituted, and which appear to have been conducted with great care, have led him to an opposite conclusion, viz. that congelation is not only fatal to the leech, but to animals generally, without a single exception. He considers the cause of death, the vera causa , to use his own words, to be an altered condition of the blood. In consequence of this statement, I thought it right to repeat the experiments on the leech, and to extend them to some other animals. They were begun at Oxford in May, in the laboratory of Professor Rolleston, with the kind assistance of Mr. Edward Chapman and Mr. Robertson; and since then, in the following month, they have been continued at home in Westmoreland. At Oxford the trials were made on leeches and frogs; at home, on these animals, and on the toad and some insects. The freezing mixture was made of pounded ice and common salt; the temperature by it was commonly reduced to below 10° Fahr., or at times so low as 2° or 3°. The results obtained were briefly the following.

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An unusual autopsy case in which the consumption of organophosphate insecticide was not the direct cause of death

10.21203/rs.3.rs-165259/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Akina Nara ◽

Chiho Yamada ◽

Manami Suyama ◽

Yu Kozakai ◽

Masaki Yoshida ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cause Of Death ◽

Inflammatory Cell ◽

Acute Poisoning ◽

Serum Cholinesterase ◽

Histopathological Analysis ◽

Autopsy Case ◽

Organophosphate Insecticide ◽

Oral Ingestion ◽

Left And Right ◽

Urinary Antigen Detection

Abstract In acute poisoning cases involving the ingestion of organophosphate insecticides such as fenitrothion and malathion, serum cholinesterase (ChE) activity is remarkably decreased, thus representing a useful indicator of the direct cause of death. In the present case, a man in his early 70s tried to committed suicide via the oral ingestion of both fenitrothion and malathion. Fenitrothion and malathion concentrations in cardiac blood were 2.63–2.98 and 0.31–0.58 µg/mL, respectively. However, the serum ChE level was 200 IU/L, which was not considerably lower than the normal range in males (242–495 IU/L). Conversely, we confirmed a positive reaction for Streptococcus pneumoniae using a urinary antigen detection kit. Moreover, histopathological analysis of both the left and right lungs revealed extensive inflammatory cell infiltration into the alveolar space. The autopsy and histopathological findings indicated that the direct cause of death was severe bacterial pneumonia caused by the infection of S. pneumoniae. This is an unusual autopsy case in which the oral ingestion of both fenitrothion and malathion was not the direct cause of the death, and might have rapidly exacerbated respiratory decline.

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Parents’ Effort to Prevent Toddler Injury at Home

Jurnal Ners dan Kebidanan (Journal of Ners and Midwifery) ◽

10.26699/jnk.v4i1.art.p012-016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 012-016

Author(s):

Agus Khoirul Anam ◽

Arif Mulyadi ◽

Devi Widyawati Sagar

Keyword(s):

Health Education ◽

Injury Prevention ◽

Cause Of Death ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Total Sample ◽

Quota Sampling ◽

Provide Health Education ◽

Children Under 5 ◽

At Home

The injury is the leading cause of death in children. Many children are hospitalized, becoming disable or death because of the injury. The purpose of research was to describe the Par- ents’ effort to prevent toddler injury at Home. Methods in research used descriptive design. The population in this study was all of parents with children under 5 years in the Posyandu Asparaga Bendogerit Sananwetan. The total sample was 43 parents by using quota sampling technique. The data was collected by a questionnaire designed by the researchers. The results of this study showed parents effort generally was in fair category 55,8% of parents. In this study, the injury prevention was still lack such as cleaning the floor so that became not slippery, avoiding the use of tablecloths, not leaving the child alone in the bathroom and no furniture with angled taper. Health employee need to provide health education about the effort of parents in the prevention of the injury of tod- dler at home.

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Place of death and associated factors: a population-based study using death certificate data

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/cky267 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 608-615 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

María José Cabañero-Martínez ◽

Andreu Nolasco ◽

Inmaculada Melchor ◽

Manuel Fernández-Alcántara ◽

Julio Cabrero-García

Keyword(s):

Marital Status ◽

Cause Of Death ◽

Death Certificate ◽

Population Based ◽

Place Of Death ◽

Population Based Study ◽

Urbanization Level ◽

Sociodemographic Variables ◽

Death Certificate Data ◽

At Home

Abstract Background Although studies suggest that most people prefer to die at home, not enough is known about place of death patterns by cause of death considering sociodemographic factors. The objective of this study was to determine the place of death in the population and to analyze the sociodemographic variables and causes of death associated with home as the place of death. Methods Cross-sectional population-based study. All death certificate data on the residents in Spain aged 15 or over who died in Spain between 2012 and 2015 were included. We employed multinomial logistic regression to explore the relation between place of death, sociodemographic variables and cause of death classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, and to conditions needing palliative care. Results Over half of all deaths occurred in hospital (57.4%), representing double the frequency of deaths that occurred at home. All the sociodemographic variables (sex, educational level, urbanization level, marital status, age and country of birth) were associated with place of death, although age presented the strongest association. Cause of death was the main predictor with heart disease, neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and senility accounting for the highest percentages of home deaths. Conclusions Most people die in hospital. Cause of death presented a stronger association with place of death than sociodemographic variables; of these latter, age, urbanization level and marital status were the main predictors. These results will prove useful in planning end-of-life care that is more closely tailored to people’s circumstances and needs.

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PCR performance for the diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania viannia complex using biopsy samples, compared with exudate samples from skin lesions on filter paper

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene ◽

10.1093/trstmh/traa052 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 114 (10) ◽

pp. 721-724

Author(s):

Yahanda Gisela Apaza-Castillo ◽

Elsa Gladys Aguilar-Ancori ◽

Mercedes Maritza Quispe-Flórez ◽

Max Carlos Ramírez-Soto ◽

Rosa Luz Pacheco-Venero

Keyword(s):

Skin Lesion ◽

Diagnostic Accuracy ◽

Skin Biopsy ◽

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis ◽

Filter Paper ◽

Sampling Methods ◽

Skin Lesions ◽

Kappa Coefficient ◽

Clinical Suspicion ◽

Diagnostic Concordance

Abstract Background Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is generally diagnosed by molecular methods, including PCR, using biopsy samples, skin scrapings and clinical exudates. In this study, we assessed the PCR performance for diagnosis of CL using skin of biopsy samples vs PCR of skin lesion exudate samples on filter paper and compared the diagnostic concordance of PCR using both sampling methods. Methods We assessed the PCR performance using 80 skin biopsy samples and 80 filter paper samples containing exudates from skin lesions obtained from 74 patients with clinical suspicion of CL in Cusco, Peru. Results : PCR using skin biopsy samples had superior diagnostic accuracy compared with filter paper PCR (62.5% [50/80] vs 38.7% [31/80], respectively; p˂0.005) and the diagnostic concordance between both sampling methods was ‘moderate’ (kappa coefficient=0.50, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.0). Conclusions PCR using biopsy samples remains the standard for diagnosis of CL.

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Influences on place of death in Botswana

Palliative & Supportive Care ◽

10.1017/s1478951509990939 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 177-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Mark Lazenby ◽

Tony Ma ◽

Howard J. Moffat ◽

Marjorie Funk ◽

M. Tish Knobf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cause Of Death ◽

Causes Of Death ◽

Death Certificate ◽

Female Gender ◽

Place Of Death ◽

Hospital Deaths ◽

The Mean ◽

Dying At Home ◽

At Home

AbstractObjective:There is an emerging body of research aimed at understanding the determinants of place of death, as where people die may influence the quality of their death. However, little is known about place of death for people of Southern Africa. This study describes place of death (home or hospital) and potential influencing factors (cause of death, age, gender, occupation, and district of residence).Method:We collected the death records for years 2005 and 2006 for all adult non-traumatic deaths that occurred in Botswana, described them, and looked for associations using bivariate and multivariate analyses.Results:The evaluable sample consisted of 18,869 death records. Home deaths accounted for 36% of all deaths, and were predominantly listed with “unknown” cause (82.3%). Causes of death for hospital deaths were HIV/AIDS (49.7%), cardiovascular disease (13.8%), and cancer (6.6%). The mean age at the time of all deaths was 53.2 years (SD = 20.9); with 61 years (SD = 22.5) for home deaths and 48.8 years (SD = 18.6) for hospital deaths (p < .001). Logistic regression analysis revealed the following independent predictors of dying at home: unknown cause of death; female gender; >80 years of age; and residing in a city or rural area (p < .05).Significance of Results:A major limitation of this study was documentation of cause of death; the majority of people who died at home were listed with an unknown cause of death. This finding impeded the ability of the study to determine whether cause of death influenced dying at home. Future study is needed to determine whether verbal autopsies would increase death-certificate listings of causes of home deaths. These data would help direct end-of-life care for patients in the home.

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Childhood Homicide: A 1990-2000 retrospective study at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Lausanne, Switzerland

Medicine Science and the Law ◽

10.1258/rsmmsl.43.3.203 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 203-206 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Nathalie Romain ◽

Katarzyna Michaud ◽

Beat Horisberger ◽

Conxita Brandt-Casadevall ◽

Thomas Krompecher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Child Abuse ◽

Retrospective Study ◽

Cause Of Death ◽

Shaken Baby Syndrome ◽

Legal Medicine ◽

Older Children ◽

Cerebral Trauma ◽

Fatal Child Abuse ◽

At Home

The authors retrospectively reviewed all homicides of children under 15 years of age referred to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Lausanne from January 1990 to December 2000. We report on 41 cases during this eleven-year period. Among those, 17 newborns and 24 older children, a higher proportion of males was found. Regarding newborn homicides, when the identity of the mother was known she was always identified as the perpetrator. With non-newborn homicides, the majority of the victims were killed at home and knew the offender. Two common profiles of these homicides could be determined. In the first scenario, one of the parents shot all the children and committed suicide afterwards. The second profile is defined as `fatal child abuse' and concerned younger victims whose cause of death was the result of a cranio-cerebral trauma from battering or shaken baby syndrome.

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