Pancuronium is a typical non-depolarizing, curare-mimetic, very potent muscle relaxant. Besides application in anesthesiology and intensive care, it is used in execution as a part of lethal injection. In medico-legal practice, there are cases of using this substance in order to commit suicide or to deprive other people of their lives. Accidental pancuronium intoxications are very...
In January 2011 a body of 56-year old man was sent to Wrocław Forensic Medicine Department. He was supposed to shoot himself with a noisemaker revolver. During the forensic autopsy a wound to the right temporal area was found, furthermore a hole in right temporal bone and a gunshot wound canal leading from right to left, slightly to the back and up. A deformed, metallic, 5.5 mm...
Alcohol dependence is both a medical and socioeconomic problem. The disease is multifactorial, i.e. its development is attributable to gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. Multi-centre studies investigating the genetic background of alcoholism stress the role of genes encoding enzymes of the ethanol decomposition pathway in the human body, particularly alcohol...
Introduction : Aluminium phosphide or rice tablet is one of the most common pesticides around the world. The substance releases phosphine gas in the presence of water, steam or stomach acid which can lead to poisoning. Phosphine poisoning is more about suicide the number of which is increasing day by day. Two-thirds of patients lose their lives. The aim of this study was to...
The presented paper illustrates the significance of dental documentation which played a key role in the process of identification of two unknown male cadavers by means of dental features examination. Efficient operations of the district prosecutor’s office, which in both cases provided ante mortem dental documentation of a missing person likely to be the victim, led to double...
Aim of the study : One of the basic issues discussed in forensic literature regarding falls from a height is determination of fall heights and differentiation between suicidal and accidental falls. The aim of the study was to verify the usefulness of the available methods for the purposes of forensic expertises. Material and methods : The study encompassed fatalities of falls...
Traumatic basal subarachnoid haemorrhage (TBSAH) represents only 1.8% of all subarachnoid haemorrhage cases diagnosed during autopsy. This report presents such a case from the current practice of the authors. Sixteen-year-old boy was beaten by the aggressors. Suddenly he lost his consciousness and fall after he received a single blow in the neck. He was resuscitated immediately...
Aim of the study : Assessment of the usefulness of intravital lesions in the proximal attachment of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and the mastoid process of the temporal bone in medico-legal evaluation of death by hanging. Material and methods: The study material was obtained from the bodies of 35 people who died by hanging. The control group comprised specimens collected from...
Introduction: The available legal regulations in Poland do not define the concentration thresholds enabling to differentiate between the states of “after-use” versus “under the influence” of a drug, as it is in the case of alcohol. The aim of the study was to analyse jurisdiction in cases regarding the evaluation of the effects of intoxicating agents and ethanol-like intoxicants...
Helium is one of inert gases causing physical asphyxiation, whose excess content in the breathing atmosphere reduces the partial pressure of oxygen and may be fatal after short-term exposure. When breathing a mixture of an inert gas (helium, nitrogen, argon) with a small amount of oxygen, with the possibility of exhaling carbon dioxide, no warning signs characteristic of...
A total of 46 cases of alleged sexual assault were analysed from the years 2006–2013 where forensic medical examinations were conducted. The material was compared with data from literature. All the victims were female. In 9 cases (20%) a sexual assault by sexual touching was alleged, 67% of complainants (31 cases) had alleged non-consensual sexual intercourse, 6 complainants (13...