Drowning is one of the most common causes accidental death worldwide, but its diagnosis remains a challenging task in forensic pathology. Several authors have suggested that diatom analysis be conducted via an enzymatic digestion method that uses proteinase K to provide objective evidence for drowning; we employed this method in our study because of its superior applicability as compared to the conventional disorganization methods. The purpose of this study was to examine the reclaiming ratio of diatoms from experimentally drowned animal organs, which could be influenced by diatom morphology. The authors injected 3 diatoms species (Cyclotella striata, Navicula incerta, and Pleurosigma angulatum) into a rat's airway and compared the detection rate to investigate the factors that influence the sensitivity of diatom analysis. The results are as follows: (1) Average reclaiming ratio in the lungs was 81.07 for Navicula incerta, 48.26 for Cyclotella striata, and 5.35 for Pleurosigma angulatum. (2) The detection rates from the closed organs in 15 experimental animals were highest in the kidney (73%, 11/15), followed by the heart (67%, 10/15), brain (60%, 9/15), and liver (53%, 8/15). (3) Two Cyclotella striata was detected in the kidney of postmortem control group which suggest the possibility of contamination during laboratory procedure. In conclusion, the authors propose that diatom size could be a significant influencing factor for diatom extraction from the organs of drowned bodies; therefore, the results of diatom analysis must be interpreted after considering the diatom population of the drowning medium at the scene and the possibility of contamination during the laboratory procedure.
Animal Structures ; Animals ; Brain ; Diatoms ; Digestion ; Drowning ; Endopeptidase K ; Forensic Pathology ; Heart ; Kidney ; Liver ; Lung

No abstract available.
Intussusception*

Choriocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal tract is rare. Among them, that of the stomach is the most common. Six cases of choriocarcinoma of the colon were found in the review of the literature. All of these previously reported cases had multiple metastatic foci in the liver, lung, lymph nodes and the prognosis seemed to be very poor. Therefore we think that choriocarcinoma of the colon should be distinguished from conventional adenocarcinoma. A 66-year old female patient, described in this case, was operated on under the impression she was suffering from acute appendicitis. The resected ascending colon revealed extensive hemorrhagic necrosis and perforation with fibrous adhesion in the cecum. On the cut section, the mural tumorous thickening was not definite. Histologically, the tumor showed a focus of typical adenocarcinoma arising from glandular epithelial cells, which were transformed into highly anaplastic tumor cells. There were frequent vascular invasions of tumor cells, similar to syncytiotrophoblasts. In the immunohistochemical stains, both glandular and highly anaplastic tumor cells reacted with cytokeratin. The glandular cells were also reactive for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and anaplastic tumor cells for human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). This is the first report of choriocarcinoma of the colon in Korea. We describe this case with a review of the literature.
Adenocarcinoma ; Aged ; Appendicitis ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; Cecum ; Choriocarcinoma* ; Chorion ; Colon* ; Colon, Ascending ; Coloring Agents ; Epithelial Cells ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Keratins ; Korea ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Necrosis ; Pregnancy ; Prognosis ; Stomach ; Trophoblasts

Death by drowning is a major cause of unnatural death worldwide. It is therefore important to conduct forensic examination of immersed bodies following drowning, in order to determine the diagnosis of drowning, because no specific methods have been established thus far. Therefore, we performed a series of rat experiments to compare autopsy findings between seawater and fresh water drowning cases, which included the presence of pleural effusion and histologic findings of the lung. The results showed that the volume of pleural effusion increased in the seawater drowning group compared to the fresh water drowning group, and the total weight of lung was affected by the type of drowning medium and postmortem interval. However, histologic findings of the lung showed no significant difference between the 2 types of drowning mediums.
Animals ; Autopsy ; Drowning ; Fresh Water ; Lung ; Pleural Effusion ; Rats ; Seawater

Drowning is a leading cause of accidental deaths worldwide, but its pathological diagnosis remains a challenge for forensic pathologists owing to a lack of pathognomonic findings in drowning deaths and inconclusive autopsy findings caused by postmortem changes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the pathway taken by inhaled drowning medium through the airway after death in a variety of experimental conditions, including underwater pressurization. We used methylene blue dye to monitor the spread of drowning medium to the lungs. Results of theses experiments demonstrated that it is possible for a significant amount of downing medium to enter the airway during immersion after death. Our results suggest that autopsies of immersed bodies and interpretation of these findings should be performed with special care.
Animal Experimentation* ; Animals* ; Autopsy ; Diagnosis ; Drowning* ; Immersion ; Inhalation* ; Lung ; Methylene Blue* ; Postmortem Changes

We presented a case of non-occupational scrotal cancer in 66-year-old male. He was a farmer and did not contact with any known carcinogen on past history. He had several erythematous walnut-sized nodules on scrotum and diffuse oozing erythema on penoscrotal and hoth crural areas. And his sclera was icteric and liver was palpable to the 3-flnger-breadth from the costal margin and had hard consistency and nodular surface. Spleen was palpable to the 4-finger-breadth. On laboratorary exarninations marked liver furtction impairment was noted. On histologic examinations of biopsied scrotal skin and ingoiaal lymyhnode undifferentiated squamous cell carcinoma was noted. On the 5th day of admission he became dull and irritable and tbe condition was deteriorated from day to day. At that time blood ammonia level was elevated to 140.63mcg% He was discharged in comatose state without any treatrnent for the scrotal cancer itself and died 4 days later.
Aged ; Ammonia ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Coma ; Erythema ; Humans ; Liver ; Male ; Sclera ; Scrotum ; Skin ; Spleen

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Kasabach-Merritt Syndrome*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Renal Veins* ; Thrombosis*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical significance of the screening mammography in the detection of the breast diseases, especially breast carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 1,800 cases of mammography retrospectively. The mammography was done as a part of routine check in Health Counselling Center, Korea University Medical Center, during 9 months from November 1993 to July 1994. The age range was from 23 years to 76 years, mean 49.8 years, and the largest age group was 6th decade(31.4%). According to the mammographic findings, we divided the subjects into three groups; normal group, abnormal group in need of follow up study, abnormal group requiring biopsy. RESULT: On mammography, the normal group consisted of 1,534 cases(85%), and the abnormal group consisted of 266 cases(15%). The abnormal findings were benign-looking calcification(n=140), fibroadeno ma (n=29), fibrocystic changes (n=27), cyst(n=23), malignant lesion(n=15), lipoma(n=7), and others. In four of 15 cases, which were suspected to be malignant on mammograms, breast carcinoma was confirmed pathologically. In four cases of breast carcinoma, one was under 40 and the other 3 were over 50 years of age. All of the breast cancers were under 3cm in size, and the mammographic findings of breast cancer included spiculated margin(n=3), parenchymal disortion(n=3), malignant calcification(n=2) and enlarged axillary node (n=l). CONCLUSION: Screening mammogram is helpful for early detection of non-palpable breast cancer, especially for women over 50 years of age.
Academic Medical Centers ; Biopsy ; Breast Diseases* ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Mammography* ; Mass Screening* ; Retrospective Studies