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B Kaess

Publications and source records attributed to B Kaess.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Odontological identification of the victims of flight AI. IT 5148 air disaster Lyon-Strasbourg 20.01.1992.

The authors report on the contribution of odontological identification of the flight AI. IT 5148 air disaster victims, which occurred on 20th January 1992. The identification procedure was difficult due to large numbers of bodies and mutilations and required the involvement of multidisciplinary teams composed of odontologists, forensic pathologists, radiologists and biologists. The authors set up a simple, discriminant classification which was easy to handle by a multidisciplinary team. Four groups were defined according to the matching characteristics between ante and post mortem data. Perfect matching characteristics between ante and post mortem data were achieved in only 44 cases (Group A). Partial matching characteristics between ante and post mortem data were achieved in 12 cases (Group B). In 29 cases, the insufficiency or absence of odontological data (Group C and D) did not enable the victim to be identified. The results of the investigations showed that the dental examination alone enabled 17 victims to be identified and by including a morphological examination the figure reached 33. By the end of the investigations, 85 of the 87 victims were positively identified. Odontological identification is an essential, accurate and rapid method with allows a body to be identified from its dental characteristics. This anthropometrical method of identification is included with the descriptive and the biological methods. The authors present their experience in performing a formal identification of 44 victims in less than 15 days.

Accidents, Aviation↗

Medico-legal investigations of the Airbus, A320 crash upon Mount Ste-Odile, France.

The authors present the medico-legal investigations and identification after the aircrash of the Airbus A320 upon the Mount Sainte-Odile (France). The identification team comprising investigators from the gendarmerie, forensic pathologists, odontologists, and scientists of the Institute from Legal Medecine rapidly retrieved and identified 85 of the 87 victims, with 17 being identified through DNA typing, three through fingerprints and the remaining through dental records and specific physical or X-ray findings. Full autopsies were performed on all fatalities to determine patterns of injury and cause of death. Results lead us to point out the importance of a multidisciplinary team of forensic practitioners especially trained for managing medico-legal investigation in mass disaster and the ability of DNA technology to solve complex identification problems.

Accidents, Aviation↗

Atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries in young patients with familial hypercholesterolemia.

Patients with heterozygous and homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia exhibit a high incidence of premature coronary heart disease, presumably due to atheromatous plaque-formation in the coronary arteries. Clinical symptoms develop when the disease has progressed to more severe stages of atherosclerosis. Aim of our study was to visualize and document early atheromatous lesions in the carotid arteries of asymptomatic patients with familial hypercholesterolemia under 30 years of age by Duplex-scan. Of 44 patients, 70% had detectable carotid plaques, while only 12% of the controls were affected. All patients with severe carotid disease had serum cholesterol levels above 350 mg/dl. In the age group 2-20 years, 66% of the patients exhibited plaques. Only 6% of the FH patients 21-30 years had normal carotid arteries. We conclude that the process of atheromatous plaque formation in patients with FH starts early in life, severity of atherosclerosis being a function of both extent and duration of hypercholesterolemia. Duplex-scan examination of the carotid arteries is efficient and precise non-invasive method suitable to visualize this process and, by measuring regression, monitor the efficacy of therapeutic measures.

Adolescent↗

[The use of the teeth in genetic fingerprinting].

Blood, hairs and sperm are tissues currently used in forensic science to carry out DNA fingerprints in the field of individual identification. Our study aims at showing that dental pulp can also be an exploitable DNA source. A quantitative and qualitative DNA investigation on a yield gel with sizing extracted from this tissue shows that the molecule appears to be in a great quantity and of a high molecular weight. The last characteristic allows the use of the restriction fragments length polymorphic technique to make DNA fingerprints, based on the individual variations of the restriction sites disposition, within the DNA molecule, for a given enzyme. Thus, for an enzyme, the length of the restriction fragments obtained and revealed by a probe, is visualized by autoradiograph. According to this technique, we compared the DNA fingerprints obtained on 8 persons with the probe MS43A, from both pulpal and nucleated blood cells. During the extraction of the third molar of each sample, a small quantity of blood was taken in the tooth socket. In the same time DNA was recovered. For a same person, the autoradiograph showed the same pattern for both blood and tooth sample. The DNA profile similitude confirms the possibility of using the tooth for genetic analysis. The interest in using dental tissues as a DNA source of individual identification falls within the particular character of resistance of this organ towards physical or chemical exterior aggressions. The tooth which until now was used in Anthropology and Forensic Science for its morphological aspects could be used this way for genetic study.

Autoradiography↗