A 43-year-old man was found unconscious at his home by the family members. He was transported to the local hospital where there was suspected the diagnosis of voluntary intoxication due to an unknown plant, possible Taxus baccata. He died 4 hours post admission and a medico-legal autopsy was performed, followed by histological and forensic toxicology analysis. Furthermore a botanical investigation was applied. Autopsy revealed fragments of greenish needle-like leaves in the stomach. Plant botanical investigation indicated the presence of Taxus baccata, also known as yew. The histological findings showed unspecific modifications of the internal organs, in concordance with the literature. No signs of violence could be found on the external exam or any relevant concentrations of alcohol, narcotic drugs and pharmaceuticals in the postmortem screening. Therefore, taking into account the history of the case, the clinical, paraclinical data, the autopsy findings and the ancillary examinations, the death was considered violent due to acute intoxication with Taxus baccata, this being a unique case in the activity of our Institute of Legal Medicine.
Brain vascular malformations are recognized as having potential to produce hemorrhage, but leading to sudden death in children is uncommon. Arteriovenous malformations may be situated in any region of the brain, but very rarely, they can be restricted to the choroid plexus. We report here a rare case of sudden death in a child, caused by a ruptured vascular malformation with an unusual location, which was not identified grossly but only on histological examination. The size and the location of the lesion, as well as the age of our patient, were contributing factors of the massive bleeding. Autopsy remains an important tool because it provides valuable information about the etiology of such bleedings, improves knowledge about these lesions, and enhances epidemiologic data.
In this paper, the authors want to introduce the concept of responsibility of an alive person to the values and rights of the deceased person through the ethical professional-personal model introduced, which will help us to make a decision when it comes to issues of morality and ethics in the forensic practice.
An aortoenteric fistula is an open link between the aorta and a portion of the gastrointestinal tract. Aortoenteric fistulas (AEFs) are rare clinical entities that result in fatal exsanguination if undiagnosed. They are in the majority of cases the result of erosion of the bowel wall, caused by abdominal aortic aneurysm, and mostly involve the third portion of the duodenum. Most cases of AEF occur in middle-aged or elderly patients. We report the case of 83-year-old woman, who had suffered a surgical intervention for a gastric ulcer, and died 3 days later, in the hospital. At the autopsy we discovered an aortoduodenal communication due to a penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer into the duodenum. This resulted into acute enteral hemorrhage with consequent death.
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