Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology

M. N. Hemanth Raj ¹, Manjula Bai ², A. G. Vijay Kumar ³, J. Suresh ⁴, T. S. Ajay Kumar ⁵, Vinay R. Hallikeri ⁶

Affiliations
1 Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, S.S. Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Davanagere, Karnataka, IN
2 Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, KLE University's J N Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, IN
3 Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya, Karnataka, IN
4 Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Chettinad Hospital and Research institute, Tamil Nadu, IN
5 Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, IN
6 Dept. of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, KLE University's J. N. Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, IN

Abstract

Introduction: Law has not tried to define death. By Black's law dictionary, death means "cessation of life or ceasing to exist". Medico-legal definition of death is 'permanent and irreversible cessation of functions of the three interlinked vital systems of the body which are called the tripod of life, namely the nervous, circulatory and respiratory systems'.

Objectives: 1. To study the autopsy diagnosis of cause of death. 2. To compare the clinical and autopsy diagnosis of cause of death. 3. To evaluate the accuracy of clinical diagnosis of cause of death.

Results: During the present study period, a total of 100 medicolegal autopsies were conducted. Out of these, 58 (58%) cases were Road Traffic Accident (RTA), burns cases were 24(24%) followed by poisoning cases 8 (8%). There were 4 cases of fall from height (4%), snake bite 3 (3%) cases and 3 (3%) hanging cases.

Discussion: It was observed that in 6 (10%) cases out of 58 cases of the total RTA cases, there was discordance regarding the opinion of cause of death. In the other 52 cases i.e. in 90% of the cases there was complete agreement with respect to the cause of death.

Conclusion: From this study it is concluded that medico legal autopsies revealed many unexpected findings that are of clinical importance, and a continued emphasis on autopsy correlation is necessary for the improvement of the quality of patient care.

 

Keywords

Cause of Death, Road Traffic Accident, Burns, Poisoning, Fall from Height, Snake Bite, Hanging

Full Text

     

U. Kumar , A. G. Vijay Kumar ¹, M. G. Shivaramu ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Mandya, Karnataka State, IN

Abstract

SNDs certainly pose Medico-legal problems to law imposing authorities, relatives of the deceased and also to the doctors. The need for an autopsy examination becomes more important in presence of suspicious deaths, and deaths in presence of witnesses and under circumstances in which factors of emotional and physical strain may have played a role. PM examination in SNDs also assumes importance in context of insurance claims and may discourage unnecessary and unwanted litigations. Statistics of the different cases taken on the lines of etiological classification [majority of the sudden natural deaths (66%) were due to diseases of the cardio-vascular system, followed by deaths due to diseases of respiratory system accounting to 20%. Diseases of CNS and GI system constituted about 4% each for sudden natural deaths and remaining 6% by miscellaneous condition like malnutrition added with infection], age incidence [maximum no. of cases, i.e. 11 (22%) seen in the age group of 46 - 50 yrs], sex incidence [45 males cases (90%) and only 5 female cases (10%)], religion distribution [majority of the cases 29 (58%) being hindus], food habits [25 Non vegetarian cases (24%) and 12 vegetarian cases (24%)], personal habits [smokers and alcoholics with 10 cases (20%) and 11 cases (22%) respectively and 28 cases (56%) as non-smokers and 30 cases (60%) as non-alcoholics], and the period of survival [26 cases (52%) found dead elsewhere and 16 cases (32%) presented with history of brought dead to the hospital] have been reported.

Keywords

Sudden Natural Death (SND), Coronary Artery Diseases, Respiratory Diseases

Full Text