Browsing Research Articles (Forensic Medicine) by Title

Browsing Research Articles (Forensic Medicine) by Title

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  • A 15-year review of lightning deaths in Germany-with a focus on pathognomonic findings 
    Bingert, Rebecca; Bremer, Larissa; Buettner, Andreas; Nigbur, Stefan; Blumenthal, Ryan; Zack, Fred (Springer, 2024-07)
    Lethal accidents caused by lightning are divided into observed and unobserved events. Pathognomonic or characteristic findings are often overlooked during external postmortem examination. Classical mistakes may be made ...
  • The added value of molecular-based diagnostics in the African forensic medical setting 
    Van Deventer, B.S.; Makhoba, Aubrey Musa; Du Toit-Prinsloo, L.; Van Niekerk, Chantal (Clinics Cardive Publishing, 2022-09)
    Sudden unexpected infant death (SUDI) is reported to be an extraordinarily high burden in sub-Saharan Africa, with the incidence rate in South Africa among the highest in the world. It is common for the cause of many ...
  • The application of imaging technologies in the detection of trace evidence in forensic medical investigation 
    Cocks, Jeannie; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Steffens, Francois E.; Saayman, Gert (Elsevier, 2015-04)
    In a country notorious for violent crime, it seems that South African medico-legal laboratories make minimal application of technology in the death investigation process and little attention is given to trace evidence. ...
  • An atypical asphyxial death : a case study 
    Blumenthal, Ryan; Ferraris, Stefanie Claudia (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2023-09)
    An atypical asphyxial death is presented. The deceased was found wrapped like a mummy with multiple layers of plastic and adhesive tape, lying face down on the floor of his home. The death scene was in the lounge area of ...
  • Black mamba death : venom versus antivenom? 
    Blumenthal, Ryan; Scholtz, Pieter Evelyn Pienaar; Shuttleworth, Jenna-lee (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2019-12)
    We present the case of a male adult who was admitted to an emergency department after having sustained envenomation from a black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis). According to the available history, a single fang hooked his ...
  • Bone marrow embolism to the lung in electrocution : two case reports 
    Blumenthal, Ryan; Saayman, Gert (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2014-09)
    Bone marrow embolism in electrocution was first described in the literature by Rappaport et al (Am J Pathol. 1951;27(3):407Y433) in 1951. Two case studies demonstrating this phenomenon are reported here, one involving ...
  • Cardiovascular deaths : what do the genes say? 
    Van Deventer, Barbara Stroh; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Van Niekerk, Chantal (Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2022-12)
    Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are ever-increasing, and as such are considered to be one of the most concerning public health burdens worldwide. They remain the leading cause of death across the world (~17.7 million deaths ...
  • Case report : lightning-induced pneumomediastinum 
    Blumenthal, Ryan; Saayman, Gert (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2017-06)
    We present the case of a 41-year-old woman who was fatally injured during a witnessed lightning strike event and in whom autopsy revealed the unusual keraunopathological finding of overt pneumomediastinum. The possible ...
  • Case report of sudden death in a child with Williams syndrome following administration of anaesthesia 
    Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Dippenaar, Johannes Marthinus (Tinus); Honey, Engela M. (Taylor and Francis, 2015-04)
    Williams syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by distinctive personality traits, facial features (so called “elfin face”) and cardiac abnormalities, of which supravalvular aortic stenosis is the most ...
  • Childhood and adolescent fatalities at the Pretoria Medico-Legal Laboratory : 2005-2009 
    Van den Ordel, G.; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Saayman, Gert (Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2016-03)
    BACKGROUND : Children and young adults are particularly vulnerable to intentional and accidental fatal injuries. The majority of deaths in Africa in children <5 years of age are due to infectious diseases. Road traffic ...
  • "Death at the wheel" due to tuberculosis of the myocardium : a case report 
    Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Saayman, Gert (Elsevier, 2016-07)
    According to the WorldHealth Organization, an estimated 9 million people contracted tuberculosis (TB) with approximately 25% of TB cases being from Africa. TB was reported as the number one cause of natural death for ...
  • Deaths due to police action and deaths in custody : a persistent problem in Pretoria, South Africa 
    Barit, Shimon; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Saayman, Gert (Institute for Security Studies, 2020)
    In 2013, South Africa had the second highest rate of imprisonment in Africa. During the apartheid era, a substantial number of deaths in custody involved political detainees. However, two decades after the abolition of ...
  • Deaths from bee stings : a report of three cases from Pretoria, South Africa 
    Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Morris, Neil Kenneth; Meyer, Pieter Willem Adriaan; Saayman, Gert (Springer, 2016-03)
    In South Africa bee stings are most commonly caused by either Apis mellifera capensis or A. mellifera scutellata, indigenous species which are notoriously aggressive when compared to European honey bees. According to ...
  • Delayed post mortem predation in lightning strike carcasses : sense or nonsense? 
    Blumenthal, Ryan (The Birds of Prey Programme of South Africa’s Endangered Wildlife Trust, 2014)
    An adult giraffe was struck dead by lightning on a game farm outside Phalaborwa, South Africa in March 2014. Interestingly, delayed post-mortem predation occurred on the carcass, which according to the farm owners was an ...
  • A demographic study of homicide–suicide in the Pretoria region over a 5 year period 
    Jena, Shirley; Mountany, Leverne; Muller, Anton (Elsevier, 2009)
    A study was undertaken to research the occurrence of homicide–suicide events in the Pretoria region from January 1997 until October 2001. It is important to attempt understanding this tragic phenomenon from psychiatric ...
  • Discrepancies between clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings : a comparative study conducted in South Africa 
    Joubert, Doret M.; Rossouw, Servaas Hofmeyr; Solomon, C.; Meyer, Pieter Willem Adriaan (Health and Medical Publishing Group, 2022-11)
    BACKGROUND. The anatomical pathology autopsy serves several purposes, notably as a quality management tool for evaluation of accuracy in clinical diagnosis. Despite its value, for various reasons there has been an ...
  • Disk battery ingestion : a rare cause of perforation of the brachiocephalic artery 
    Loots, Donovan P.; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Saayman, Gert (Springer, 2015-12)
    A previously healthy 2 year old female toddler was brought to the emergency department with a history of severe hematemesis. Posterior-Anterior (PA) and lateral chest radiographs demonstrated a round radio-opaque object ...
  • Does a sixth mechanism exist to explain lightning injuries? Investigating a possible new injury mechanism to determine the cause of injuries related to close lightning flashes 
    Blumenthal, Ryan; Jandrell, Ian R.; West, Nicholas J. (Lippencott, Williams & Wilkens, 2012-09)
    Five mechanisms have been described in the literature regarding lightning injury mechanisms. A sixth mechanism is proposed in this article, namely, lightning barotrauma. A simple laboratory experiment was conducted using ...
  • Double death electrocution in the bathtub 
    Blumenthal, Ryan; Mabotja, Seduma Suzan; Soul, Bathabile (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2022)
    We report the case of a 25‐year‐old woman and her 3‐year‐old son who were found dead in the bathtub because of electrocution. The case happened in August, which is winter, in South Africa. An electrical urn used to heat ...
  • Drowning in Pretoria, South Africa : a 10-year review 
    Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Du Toit-Prinsloo, Lorraine; Saayman, Gert; Morris, Neil Kenneth (Elsevier, 2016-01)
    Drowning is classified as the 3rd leading cause of accidental deaths worldwide and is deemed to be a preventable cause of death. Bodies retrieved from a water medium pose several challenges to the forensic pathologist ...