Medico-Legal Update

Lohith Kumar ¹, Kulbhushan ¹, Shadab Raheel ¹, Abhishek Yadav ¹, Anil Kumar ²

Affiliations
1 Dept. of Forensic Medicine, VMMC & SJ Hospital, New Delhi, IN
2 Dept. of Forensic Medicine, VMMC & SJ Hospital, Delhi, IN

Abstract

Birth defects have become the most important cause of mortality and morbidity in the perinatal period. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect which includes varying forms of cardiac abnormalities with an incidence of 1 per 100 live births. We present a case where 6 month old Afghan national male baby brought to India for higher treatment with a history of failure to thrive and rapid heart beating. He was diagnosed with Atrio-Ventricular Septal Defect, Pulmonary artery hypertension and advised pulmonary artery banding as soon as possible. Baby fell unconscious on board and shifted to Safdarjung hospital where he was declared brought dead and post mortem examination confirmed the diagnosis. Here an attempt has been made to put forward such a case with relevant discussion on such potentially life-threatening malformations which warrant careful clinical follow-up both in antenatal and postnatal period.

Keywords

Atrio-ventricular Septal Defect (AVSD), Congenital Heart Disease (CHD), Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)

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Lohith Kumar ¹, Manish Kumath ¹, J. Lavanya ², Mohit Gupta ¹, Abhishek Yadav ¹, Kulbushan Prasad ¹

Affiliations
1 Dept. of Forensic Medicine, VMMC & SJ Hospital, New Delhi, IN
2 Dept. of Microbiology, LHMC & Kalawati Hospital, New Delhi, IN

Abstract

Post-mortem artefacts are commonly encountered in forensic practice. They are sometimes very confusing for forensic experts to interpret and wrong interpretation may mislead the course of justice. A case is presented where a patient developed severe subcutaneous emphysema after a road traffic accident and was treated with multiple subcutaneous bilateral "blowhole" incision on the chest and upper part of abdomen. Confusion arose on autopsy about injuries whether they were therapeutic or homicidal in origin.

Keywords

Subcutaneous Emphysema, SE, Blow Holes, Surgical Incised Wounds

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