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Biomedical subjects

C Markwalder

Publications and source records attributed to C Markwalder.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Fatal posture- and heroin-related intestinal infarction and leg muscle necrosis after snorting heroin. A case report.

We present a case of a male patient who spent several hours sitting with legs crossed and upper body bent forward after nasal insufflation of heroin (snorting). Death occurred 3 days later as a result of leg muscle necrosis and intestinal ileus with infarction. The autopsy findings, including microthrombi in small mesenteric vessels and necrosis of the leg muscles, were attributed to vascular compression due to the man's position and to metabolic processes resulting from drug ingestion.

Administration, Intranasal↗
PubMed1990

[Changes in skeletal muscles in death caused by hypothermia].

The review of 32 deaths resulting from hypothermia yielded mostly the common pathological findings as bright red livores, haemolytic frost marks of the skin and Wichnewski erosions of the gastric mucosa. In addition the muscle system of the body core (musc. ileopsoas) showed hemorrhages and histologically necrosis of its fibres in form of segmental and discoid sarcoplasmatic alteration. These changes are a quite specific sign of death due to hypothermia, as far as mechanical injury can be excluded. For best result however a special autopsy technique and an appropriate histological staining are advisable.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

[Morphology of a paraquat poisoning].

The predominant pathomorphological findings in acute lethal paraquat intoxication are interstitial and alveolar edema, as well as structural changes of the pulmonary architecture, probably as a result of damage of the surfactant by peroxides. The typical histopathological changes are illustrated in a suicide case in which paraquat was used. An oligodendroglioma of the left frontal lobe was the organic cause of suicide.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Gunshot injury caused by a training bullet].

In the course of a scuffle a 50-year old man has been shot by a revolver. The culprit and witnesses state, there has been only one shot, whereas the victim declared having been shot twice. The medico-legal investigation revealed a gunshot wound that passed through the left thigh, a grazing shot of the right hand and a superficial lesion of the skin at the forehead with sprinkled gunshot residue in the epidermis. The investigation confirmed the statement of the victim: the first shot to the forehead was caused by a plastic training cartridge, the second to the right hand and thigh by a cartridge loaded with an ordinary bullet.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

["Self-asphyxia"--a forensic medicine-criminal challenge].

In judicial and police circles - sometimes even in circles of medical professionals - it is still often thought that suicidal strangulation by ligature is impossible. Reviewing the forensic literature we could find more than 200 cases that have been published earlier. We report another 4 cases of suicidal strangulation. The main problems of criminalists and medical examiners in such cases are discussed. Primary investigation of the corpse in original position by a forensic scientist is of high importance.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The "inner gunshot residue"--a gunshot entry marker in gunshot of ridged skin].

Gunshot residue below the surface of the skin is typical of a contact gunshot wound. However, in a case of our own, when a taxi-robber was shot by the cab driver through his right hand at a distance of several yards, this finding provoked quite a confusion. Only when experimental shots at thick glabrous skin were performed, it could be established that long range shots led to intraepidermal gunshot deposit too. The explanation of this phenomenon lies in the tenacity of thick skin. Unlike the thin hairy skin, which is punched out by the penetrating projectile, the thicker and more tenacious plantar/palmar epidermis gets displaced radially, the stratum germinativum tears and the projectile casts its gunshot residue in the pouch formed in such a manner. Therefore, intraepidermal gunshot residue is proof of an entrance gunshot wound but not always a sign of contact shot if the wound is located in the palmar or plantar region. It is typically produced by shots at thick skin.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Protracted suicide as a criminalistic problem].

The authors suggest to reserve the expression "combined" suicide to cases, where a combination of several suicide methods were previously intended. The other cases, where the victims proceed from ohne failing attempt to the other by using different methods and finally succeed after a certain period should be called "protracted" or "prolongated" suicides. Two typical cases are presented. In the first case a young man tried to commit suicide by causing a traffic accident, then tried to stab himself. Afterwards he ingested motor oil and tranquillizers and finally succeeds in jumping from a crane. The second case deals with an elderly man who tried to kill himself by stabbing at the chest and the head. After he failed, he was drinking kerosene and at last he was throwing himself out of a window.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Using muscle histology for assessment of vitality in hanging].

The external and internal signs of vitality of hanging were often absent in a retrospective study of 55 cases of hanging. The histological examination of the cervical muscles however revealed in the majority of the cases "vital" changes in the muscle fibres, e.g. segmental or discoid fragmentation of the muscle fibres with loss of the sarcoplasmatic cross-striation. The histological examination is therefore a valid instrument for proofing the vitality of hanging and other forms of strangulation.

Adolescent↗