Farm tractors are the major cause of occupational fatalities in agricultural regions. Fatalities typically result from being run over or crushed by the tractor, becoming entangled in the moving parts of the tractor, accidents on roadways, and tractor rollovers, which involve the tractor tipping sideways or backwards and crushing the operator. In this study, tractor-related fatalities in the Konya province of Turkey are retrospectively evaluated. Out of the 3940 cases on which a death examination and/or autopsy was performed between the years 2000 and 2007 at The Konya Branch of Forensic Medicine Council, 86 (2.2%) of the death cases were caused by tractor accidents and are included in this study. The ages of the victims varied between 3 and 80 years old with a mean age of 31.7 + or - 22.3. Sixty-eight (79.1%) of the cases involved males, while 18 (20.9%) of the cases involved females. In 32 (37.2%) of the cases, the deaths due to tractor accidents occurred when the tractor overturned. In 37 (43.0%) of the cases, the tractor-related fatalities involved the passengers and the drivers were involved in 34 (39.5%) of the cases. In conclusion, tractor accidents are preventable and deaths from tractor accidents can be significantly reduced if drivers are required to wear safety belts and helmets and frequent checks are implemented to enforce the ban on carrying passengers.

Accessory spleens (AS) may be formed during embryonic development when some of the cells from the developing spleen are deposited along the path from the midline, where the spleen forms, over to its final location on the left side of the abdomen. An accessory spleen is usually near the spleen's hilum, but it may be embedded partly or wholly in the tail of the pancreas. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and distribution of AS during routine forensic autopsies. AS were investigated in 720 consecutive autopsy cases. Fifty-four AS were found in 48 (6.7%) cases. AS were found in hilum of the main spleen in 28 cases, the great omentum in 13 cases, the pancreas in 5 cases, and the pelvis in 2 cases. There were two AS in two cases and three AS in another two cases. Awareness of the possible presence of AS is important because when splenectomy is performed for some conditions such as immune thrombocytopenic purpura, failure to remove the AS may result in the failure of the condition to resolve. Additionally, during medical imaging, AS may be confused for enlarged lymph nodes or neoplastic growths. In conclusion, autopsy series are useful for determining the incidences and the other features of AS in different populations, in addition to those studies using CT scans and those studies obtained during laparoscopic or open surgeries.

Homicide followed by the suicide of the murderer is a relatively rare lethal incident in which an individual kills another person and subsequently dies by suicide. Cases involving a homicide and a suicide in which death examinations and autopsies were performed at The Konya Branch of the Forensic Medicine Council between 2000 and 2007 were retrospectively investigated. During the studied time period, there were 10 homicide-suicide cases identified with 10 perpetrators killing 12 victims. Nine of the perpetrators were men and eight of the victims were women. The precipitating motive was an impending divorce in four of the cases. Two perpetrators were described as severely depressed, one had a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and one was a pedophile who had reactive depression. Firearms were used in eight of the homicide cases and seven of the suicides. Constricting the use of firearms may reduce/prevent future homicide-suicide cases, as it is the most commonly used method to carry out homicide-suicides.

Dismemberment of a corpse has always been viewed by society to be a more hideous crime than the homicide itself. In this study, we present a case of a 57-year-old woman who was decapitated and her right arm and both hands were dismembered. It was determined that the victim was murdered and dismembered by her 33-year-old daughter, who had been receiving treatment for schizophrenia for 15 years. On the victim's head and back there were 71 incised and stab wounds in total. They were superficial, except the five stab wounds which were connected to the right chest cavity and which incapacitated the victim. Although there is not a regulation for the act of dismembering the corpse in the Turkish Penal Code, since this type of case is rare, the crime scene and the autopsy findings were evaluated together with other pertinent data available in the literature.

Persons whose occupations are in animal husbandry may be seriously injured or killed while tending to animals. Bulls are among the most dangerous of these animals. In this study, seven deaths and 23 traumatic injury cases caused by bull attacks and treated in the General Surgery and Chest Surgery Department of Selcuk University Meram Medical Faculty Hospital are presented. Of the 30 total cases, 24 were male and 6 were female. The ages of the cases ranged from 33 to 86 years and the average age was 60.3 +/- 12.4 (mean +/- standard deviation). All of the death and injury cases occurred while engaged in the care of bulls. It was also determined that the injuries were in the chest region of five (71.4%) and in the head of two (18.6%) out of seven death cases; and in the abdominal region of 14 (60.9%) and in the chest region of nine (39.1%) out of 23 traumatic injury cases. Of the 14 cases that were in the abdominal region and treated surgically, 11 were perforation of small/large intestines, whereas hemorrhages involving the intestinal mesentery, intraabdominal hemorrhage due to perforation of the abdominal wall, and splenic laceration were determined in one case each. There were one or multiple costal fractures in all nine chest injury cases, flail chest in five cases, and hemothorax, pneumothorax, or hemopneumothorax were determined in six cases. Of the chest injury cases, tube thoracostomy was performed in six whereas the other three cases were discharged from the hospital after supportive care. It was concluded that animals such as bulls might be the cause of serious trauma ending with death for those working in the animal husbandry. For this reason, caution is required while feeding and working with bulls. Risk can be reduced by chutes, gates, restraints, special housing, and confinement facilities. Also, wearing protective helmets would be useful especially for preventing head injuries.