OBJECTIVE: To study the deduction of injury-causing instruments and its value as judicial evidence. METHODS: To collect 146 cases involved in injury-causing instruments deduction, which accepted by Judicial Appraisal Center of Wannan Medical College during the period from 1998 to 2007, then to deduce the instrument by analyzing the characters of injuries in body surface. The accuracy of those deductions was evaluated by comparing the deduced instruments with the actual instruments. RESULTS: The deduction from sharp injuries was more accurate than that from blunt injuries. CONCLUSION Sometimes the result of deduction about injury-causing instruments are uncertain, it may be accepted as judicial evidence when supported by other evidences.
Female ; Forensic Pathology/methods* ; Humans ; Male ; Wounds and Injuries/pathology* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating/pathology* ; Wounds, Penetrating/pathology*

OBJECTIVES: To explore the differences in the repair process of skin and skeletal muscle after contusion caused by blunt force attack with different heights. METHODS: Three degrees of contusion were performed on SD rats' right hind limbs by a designed free-dropping device falling from 15, 30 and 50 cm heights, which as a main consideration factor for degree of injury. The repair process of skin and skeletal muscle at 6 h, 24 h, 3 d, 7 d and 13 d after contusion were observed using routine histological methods. RESULTS: Hematoma within skin and/or muscle was found in the rats' hind limbs after contusion with three different heights. The repair processes were similar at 24 h after contusion. However, with the increase of height, the display degree was more obvious. At 3 d after contusion, the RBC of the hemorrhagic region would be decomposed and elapsed in 15 cm contusion group, but for 30 cm contusion group, it delayed to 7 d. At 13 d after contusion, the similar result was found in 15 cm and 30 cm contusion groups, in contrast, the 50 cm contusion group was still in the proliferative phase. CONCLUSIONS With the increase of height, the occurring rate of hematoma within skin and muscle at the same time increases, and the more serious histological appearance after contusion, including inflammation and proliferation, the longer healing process are observed. According to the results of present study and considering forensic application, the contusion model with 50 cm height （2.58 J/cm²） is recommended as the experimental animal model for the future study of wound age estimation on contusion.
Animals ; Contusions/pathology* ; Hindlimb ; Muscle, Skeletal/pathology* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin/pathology* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating

Nowdays, it is common seen that criminals tend to use the lock-against-theft for motorcycle to harm others as a tool. In order to find out the chief characters of this kind of injury, 28 cases in which victims were hurt by lock-against-theft for motorcycle were analyzed. In each case, the victims carefully questioned to confirm the damage procedure. Furthermore, the wound configuration was observed and the forming mechanism was deduced to provide morphological evidences for the judgement in this kind of case.
Female ; Forensic Medicine ; Fractures, Bone/pathology* ; Humans ; Male ; Motorcycles ; Skin/pathology* ; Violence ; Wounds and Injuries/pathology* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating/pathology*

Humans ; Thoracic Injuries ; complications ; pathology ; Trauma Severity Indices ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy

Commotio cordis （CC） is the acute death caused by the cardiac rhythm disorder after a sudden blunt external force to the precordium of a healthy person without previous heart disease. As one type of violent heart damage, CC is rare with relatively small external force and sudden death, therefore causing disputes. This paper reviews the epidemiology, mechanisms and the key points in forensic identification of CC, discusses the identification and antidiastole of CC, myocardial contusion, sudden cardiac death and death from inhibition, and provides assistance to forensic pathologists to identify such causes of death.
Commotio Cordis/epidemiology* ; Death, Sudden, Cardiac ; Forensic Pathology ; Heart ; Humans ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating

A traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH) is a rare type of hernia, which follows blunt trauma to the abdomen, where disruption of the musculature and fascia occurs, with the overlying skin remaining intact. The case of a sixty five year old female that developed a TAWH, following the collapse of the roof of her house, is reported. She underwent a laparotomy for suspected liver injury, followed by repair of the hernia using a fascia lata graft taken from the thigh. The etiology, pathogenesis and management of this rare hernia are discussed.
Abdominal Wall/*pathology ; Aged ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Hernia, Ventral/etiology/*pathology/surgery ; Human ; Laparotomy ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating/*complications/*pathology

Accidents, Traffic ; Adult ; Heart Injuries ; complications ; etiology ; pathology ; Hernia ; etiology ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Pericardium ; injuries ; Rupture ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating ; complications

The incidence and importance of tricuspid valve regurgitation after a blunt chest injury has risen with the increase in the number of automobile accidents and steering wheel traumas. This kind of injury has been reported more frequently in the last decade because of the better diagnostic procedures and understanding of the pathology. However, tricuspid valve regurgitation following a blunt chest injury can still be easily missed because most patients do not show symptoms at the time of the trauma. A 55-year-old male patient presented himself at our facility after suffering a chest injury from an automobile accident. His transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed severe tricuspid valve regurgitation due to the prolapse of his anterior valve leaflet. We report a case of asymptomatic tricuspid regurgitation that developed after a blunt chest injury.
Automobiles ; Chordae Tendineae* ; Echocardiography ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pathology ; Prolapse ; Rupture* ; Thoracic Injuries* ; Thorax* ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating

OBJECTIVE: To establish a new animal model of grading skeletal muscle contusions that could be controllable and repetitive. METHODS: The rats' gastrocnemius was injured by a new weight-dropping device designed. The force acting on gastrocnemius with a comparatively constant duration and inducing elastic deformation of the gastrocnemius was expressed with velocity (v) and deformation (DF). Instant velocity was changed to create gastrocnemius contusions. Pathological changes of gastrocnemius were graded by the gross and histological examinations of 39 rats. RESULTS: At low level of impact (v: 2 m/s, DF: 5.5 mm), mild injuries were detected in epimysium and superficial layer of gastrocnemius. At moderate level of impact (v: 2.5 m/s, DF: 6.5 mm), the injuries were observed in epimysium and whole gastrocnemius. At high level of impact (v: 3 m/s, DF: 7.5 mm), severe injuries were seen deeper to soleus with more extensive skeletal muscle damage. CONCLUSION Grading of skeletal muscle blunt force contusion is created by parameter of velocity and muscle deformation. The model could be used for further research on skeletal muscle contusions.
Animals ; Contusions/classification* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Forensic Pathology ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal/injuries* ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the characteristics and main problems of eye injuries in forensic identification. METHODS: Sixty cases of eye injury in forensic expertise were retrospectively analyzed according to sex, age, employment, trauma-causing instrument and injury type, respectively. RESULTS: Of the 60 cases there are 61.7% being peasants and workers, 85.0% suffering from blunt trauma and 63.3% suffering from simple contusion. CONCLUSION Eyes injuries was mostly caused by blunt trauma. Pathological change of fundus was an important factor affecting the vision function. The injury-causing instruments, injury sites and medical history of eyes should be considered while evaluating the vision.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Expert Testimony ; Eye Diseases/pathology* ; Eye Injuries/diagnosis* ; Female ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Vision Disorders/pathology* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating/diagnosis* ; Young Adult