Hunter-game animal conflicts are occasionally reported from various parts of the world. This case series comprises all 7 game animal attacks on hunters reported to the Croatian Hunting Association over a period of 13 years (1999-2011), covering the entire Croatian territorial area. Seasonally, attacks occurred most frequently in the winter time, when the hunting season is at its peak. The most common attacking animal, representing 5 of 7 cases (71.4%), was the wild boar, and the majority of the attacks happened in the morning. All of our victims were male, with an average age of 51 years (range 26 to 69 years). Six victims sustained a bite wound or wounds and 1 was rammed by the animal. Almost all of our patients (5 of 7, with one unknown) recovered completely and without significant complications.

Animal-inflicted injuries to humans are a major public health problem around the world resulting in great morbidity, money loss, and mortality. They are related to wild and domestic animals alike. Animals can cause injuries by various mechanisms--biting, stinging, crushing, goring, stomping, butting, kicking, pecking, etc. We present a case of a ram's attack with fatal consequences. A 4-year-old, 120 kg jezersko-solčava breed ram with prior history of aggressive behavior inflicted multiple injuries to his 83-year-old owner, who died in the hospital a few hours later due to severe blunt force injuries sustained in the attack. The autopsy revealed the cause of death to be multiple injuries of the thorax and the head. Sheep, even though they are not considered aggressive or large farm animals such as cattle and horses, can inflict serious injuries with devastating results.

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Spinal cord compression caused by multiple spinal osteochondromasA 15-year-old boy with positive family history of osteochondromatosis presented with a three-month history of progressive paraparesis and a month history of urinary incontinence. The patient underwent irradiation of the whole neuroaxis for meduloblastoma at the age of 18 months. The CT and MRI showed multilevel osteochondromas of the spine with irregularly narrowed spinal canal to the level of complete obliteration, and spinal cord compression and displacement ( Fig. 1A and 1B). MRI delineated the extent of the osteochondromas, particularly the cartilage cap, more accurately than CT. MRI was also superior in visualizing spinal cord compression. CT, however, was performing better in analysis of the bony structures of the tumors, calcifications, and in assessment of the spinal canal deformity (Fig. 1C). After laminectomy and partial resection of the tumor masses, neurological deficits remained, despite achieved decompression of the neural structures. Postoperative CT and MRI of the spine revealed residual exostosis that caused displacement of the spinal cord and postischemic changes of the spinal cord at the level Th2 (Fig. 2). Histological analysis of the removed specimens confirmed the benign nature of the tumors. Osteochondroma is a cartilaginous tumor, the most common benign tumor of the bone. It may be solitary, or multiple (osteochondromatosis, usually with autosomal dominant inheritance) [1,2]. We believe that the osteochondromatosis in our patient was hereditary with possible acceleration of progression of the tumor growth caused by irradiation since it may be induced by radiation exposure [3].

This study presents two cases of lethal bentazone poisonings, their clinical presentation, the course of the disease and the autopsy findings. The first is a 50-year-old male who had sprayed corn with a solution of bentazone and was admitted to the hospital with sweating, fever, nausea, vomiting of aqueous and hemorrhagic content, and bloody, watery stools. He was treated according to the symptoms including extracorporeal hemodialysis, but eventually suffered from multiorgan failure (acute respiratory failure, acute liver failure, coagulopathy, acute renal failure, metabolic acidosis, and gastrointestinal bleeding) and died 11.35 h after admittance. The cause of death was probable bentazone intoxication. The second case, also a male, aged 49 who committed suicide by ingesting a bentazone solution. He was transferred to the hospital prostrated and cyanotic and died 14.15 h after admittance despite all efforts by the hospital staff. The cause of death was acute bentazone intoxication.