Thanatochemistry: Study of synovial fluid potassium

Death interval estimation is one of the major attributes obtained from thanatochemistry. Body fluids like vitreous humour have been consistently used to estimate death interval from regression equations, but these may be useless when dealing with eye trauma, ocular disorders or in mutilated remains. Until recently, there was no consistent assessment of the reliability of measurements of the synovial fluid for death interval estimation. The purpose of this paper is to test previously developed regression formulae for estimating death interval based on synovial fluid potassium and to assess its reliability in estimating death interval. Synovial fluid potassium was measured on a sample of 308 individuals. Death interval was regressed on synovial fluid potassium and a regression formula was obtained. The regression model provided a 95% confidence interval of ±3.0 h and a correlation coefficient of 0.739. Compared to other studies, regression formulae based on the synovial fluid potassium in the present study provided considerably less standard errors.KEYWORDS Thanatochemistry; Cadaveric; Synovial fluid; Potassium; Postmortem interva

A descriptive study of female suicide deaths from 2005 to 2011 in Van city, Turkey

BACKGROUND: Female suicide is an important problem not only for women but for public health in general. METHODS: Autopsy reports from the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office from 2005 to 2011 were reviewed retrospectively in order to analyse female deaths from suicide. RESULTS: Sixty-six female suicide cases were recorded during 2005–2011. The mean age of the cases was 22.64 (sd = 10.09) years, and nine were below the age of 15. The most common method of suicide was hanging (44 cases, 66.7 %). Five (7.6 %) of the cases were under treatment for depression, and 12 (18.2 %) cases had a previous suicide attempt. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural suppression of females and prevention of their socialization in enclave societies are risk factors for female suicides. The number of female suicide attempts, especially recurring attempts, should be reduced via psychiatric scanning, follow-up sessions and therapy for high-risk individuals