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P Zink

Publications and source records attributed to P Zink.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

[Does the 3d decimal number of single values have significance for calculating average blood alcohol content?].

Judgement of driving capability bases on determination of alcohol concentration in blood. This is carried out by two different methods, whereby the mean value is taken out of four test results. The mean value may very slightly taking either two or three decimal places. We suggest not to abandon the third decimal place. Due to German jurisdiction absolute incapability to drive is given when alcohol concentration in blood reaches 1.3 g Promille. An example shows that in a forensic case the limit of 1.3 g Promille was not reached if only two instead of three decimal places were taken.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1989

[Cellular components in interstitial lung tissue in sudden infant death--immunohistochemical characterization].

Monoclonal antibodies against the Leucocyte Common Antigens LC and MAC-387 expressed by lymphocytes, mononuclear phagocytes and polymorphonuclears failed to mark the cells of the pulmonary interstitial connective tissue in cases of SIDS. Controls with interstitial pneumonia showed clearly marked inflammatory cells. Although focal proliferation of cells was frequently observed in the vicinity of distended lymphatics in SIDS cases, an inflammatory origin as in the cases of interstitial pneumonia could not be confirmed. A relationship between interstitial edema and a non-inflammatory proliferation of the cells is discussed.

Antigens, Differentiation↗
PubMed1988

[Quantitative polarization microscopy demonstration of collagen type I and type III in histologic paraffin sections].

The industrial dye Solophenyl Red 3 BL (Ciba-Geigy) dissolved in a saturated aquaeous solution of picric acid has proved suitable for differentiating between collagen types I and III in histological sections. When examined under polarization microscopy, type I fibers are radiant orange while type III fibers are green. Using 5 micron paraffin sections, an optimal staining procedure was determined: sections were first stained with Resorcin Fuchsin for elastic fibers and with Celestin Blue/Mayer's Hematoxylin for nuclear structures. The staining was then completed with 0.1 g Solophenyl Red/100 ml saturated aqueous solution of picric acid for 60 min at a pH value of 1.25. It was shown that the dye stained collagen selectively. With the aid of a photomultiplier, the spectral distribution of a series of lung sections adequately stained according to the optimized procedure was carried out using a monochromator and an interference filter, respectively. Both methods yielded identical peaks at 590 nm for the orange colored light of collagen type I and 490 nm for the green light of collagen type III. Application of appropriate filters permitted the intensity of the orange and green light at 590 nm and 490 nm to be measured. Long postmortem intervals did not affect the measured values. Quantitative inferences on the ratio of collagen I to collagen III could then be deduced from the ratio of the intensity of orange to green light. This index I/III is often applied in the diagnosis of discrete fibrotic changes in various organs.

Collagen↗
PubMed1988

[Myocardial dysplasia of the right ventricle (Uhl's anomaly) as a possible cause of sudden, unexpected death].

Partial absence and fatty replacement of the myocardial compacta of the right ventricular wall was observed in five young male adults, four of whom died suddenly and unexpectedly and one in a car accident. In one of these cases there was only one coronary orifice. Four cases of the so-called Uhl anomaly had histological findings indicating dysmorphic myocardial cells associated with minimal lymphohistiocytic infiltrates within the fatty tissue. In one case, chronic destructive inflammation was a prominent feature. Marked dysmorphic alterations in the myocardial fibers suggested the occurrence of arrhythmic episodes as the main cause of sudden heart failure and death.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1988

Pulmonary lymphatics in SIDS--a comparative morphometric study.

Pulmonary lymphatics in a group of SIDS cases were compared with a control group of a similar age distribution. The causes of death in the controls were known to be associated with varying degrees of pulmonary edema. The surface areas of pleural, interstitial, peribronchial, periarterial and perivenous lymphatics were planimetrically measured. The data were statistically tested. The tests showed that the pulmonary lymphatics of the SIDS group were significantly more distended than those of the control group as expressed by highly significant differences in their surface areas. On the whole 2142 lymphatics were measured; 1255 in the SIDS group, which consisted of slides from 10 cases and 887 in the control group which consisted of slides from 11 controls. Although the sample size imposes a limit on the general applicability of the results, the clear distinction between the two groups as shown by the tests do indicate a possible feature of SIDS--lymphatic stasis--which might be secondary to some impairment of lymphatic drainage. This in turn could induce subtle fibrotic changes in the connective tissue framework of these lungs. The results are presented in the light of the forensic significance of the signs of asphyxia frequently found in SIDS and the diagnostic difficulties encountered in differentiating between SIDS and mechanical asphyxia e.g. due to smothering.

Dilatation, Pathologic↗
PubMed1988

[Fatal lung hemorrhage in complex pulmonary angiodysplasia in a case of mongolism].

A case of sudden and unexpected death of a boy with Down-Syndrome is reported. Death was due to acute excessive haemorrhage from the lungs. There were no cardiac anomalies. Histology revealed in addition to mediahyperplasia, intimaproliferation and occlusions, multiple foci of anomalous ectatic blood vessels predominantly in the lungs, some of which ruptured and bled into adjacent airways. Evidence of previous less severe bleeding episodes was present. Further investigation showed a familial occurrence of the blood vessel anomaly.

Arteriovenous Malformations↗
PubMed1988

[Changes in the ratio of collagen type I and III in the interlobular interstitium of the lung in sudden infant death--a pilot study].

In a blind study the interlobular interstitial connective tissue in paraffin embedded lung sections from 45 autopsy cases aged under 2 years (23 SIDS and 22 Non-SIDS) were investigated with the aim of determining the collagen type I:type III ratio by means of polarimetric evaluation. Sections were stained with Resorcin-Fuchsin for elastin fibres, Celestine Blue/Mayer's Haematoxylin for nuclear details and with Solophenyl Red 3 BL in saturated picric acid solution for the differential staining of type I and type III collagen fibres for polarization microscopy. The type I fibres were orange and the type III fibres green in colour. The spectral distribution of the coloured polarized light from the sections was determined and peaks were evident at the wavelengths 590 nm for the orange coloured light of type I and 490 nm for the green coloured light of type III collagen. With corresponding filtres the intensities of the orange and green emissions were separately measured at several points adjacent to lymphatic vessels. The ratio collagen I/III, deduced from the ratio of the intensities of orange to green light, was significantly higher in the SIDS-group than in the Non-SIDS-group (a = 0.001) due to the increase in the amount of collagen type I and could indicate an insiduous fibrosis resulting from lymphostasis.

Collagen↗
PubMed1987

[Changes in the lung connective tissue framework in sudden infant death (SIDS)].

Light microscopy findings are reported on the interstitial connective tissue framework of 45 lungs from babies who died within the first 2 years of life. Thirty were confirmed cases of SIDS and 15 were controls of similar age who died of known causes. The stains applied were H & E, PAS, Prussian blue, Elastica van Gieson, Trichrom (Masson-Goldner), Gomori's silver methenamine and Picro-Sirius polarization (modified). Particular attention was paid to type I and type III collagen, reticulin fibers and ground substance. All investigated cases showed evidence of chronic recurrent interstitial edema in a highly significant frequency and intensity in contrast to the controls. Areas of recent and persistent lymphedema were observed, some of them with reactive fibroplastic activity, which tended towards gradual fibrosis. These changes were irregularly distributed and frequently involved the mural interstitium. Considering the effects of such changes on expansibility, ventilation and perfusion of the lungs, as well as the impairment of gas diffusion, the findings described could be significant in the forensic evaluation of the signs of asphyxia found in most cases of SIDS.

Collagen↗
PubMed1987

Recent influenza virus A infections in forensic cases of sudden unexplained death.

84 forensic necropsy cases with a history of sudden unexpected death and where no acceptable cause of death was found at autopsy (= cases of sudden unexplained death, SUD) were found to have a significantly higher rate of influenza A (H 3 N 2) infection than did matched controls of the general population and a group of forensic necropsy cases with known cause of death (NON-SUD cases). By contrast, the group of SUD cases was found to have no significantly increased infection rate with influenza H 1 N 1 and B virus, parainfluenza viruses, RS virus, adenovirus, and cytomegalovirus. The influenza A associated SUD cases had a significantly higher rate of pathological and histological findings previously described for cases of primary viral pneumonia than did SUD cases without recent influenza A infection and NON-SUD cases. These findings suggest that virological examination of SUD cases could be helpful in order to determine the probable cause of death. A considerable portion of the influenza associated SUD cases occurred during interepidemic influenza periods. Therefore, such cases could be a useful source for monitoring the interepidemic spread of influenza virus.

Autopsy↗
PubMed1987

Serological evidence of recent influenza virus A (H 3 N 2) infections in forensic cases of the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

40 forensic SIDS cases were found to have a significantly higher rate of serologic evidence of recent influenza A (H 3 N 2) infection than did matched controls. In contrast, the SIDS cases had serologically no significantly increased infection rate with influenza H 1 N 1 and B virus, parainfluenza virus, RS virus, adenovirus, and cytomegalovirus. SIDS cases with recent influenza infection had a significantly higher rate of histological findings as described for primary viral pneumonia than did SIDS cases without influenza infection. SIDS cases with recent influenza infection occurred much more frequently during epidemic than during interepidemic influenza A (H 3 N 2) periods. Our results confirm previous reports that SIDS cases have an increased rate of respiratory virus infections. However, they cannot prove a causal relationship between influenza infection and death. Since our SIDS cases comprised 75 per cent of cases aged more than three months, our results pertain essentially to cases of this age group.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1986

[Pathologico-anatomic findings in sudden, unexpected death in children and adults with influenza A infection].

Thé following observations resulted from studies on forensic autopsy cases: In 76% of the adults and 55% of the infants the cases of unexpected sudden death without morphologically verifiable causes of death showed virologic evidence of recent influenza-A (H3N2)-infection. The pathologic findings corresponded with the findings in lethal infections with influenza-A viruses. Investigation of cases of sudden and unexpected death should always include virologic serum tests. The demonstration of IgM antibodies against influenza-A virus confirms that there was a recent infection. Death from influenza-A infections occurs also in the interepidemic periods.

Adolescent↗