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An unusual case of homicide of a 21-year-old man who was smothered with a hot steam towel by his mother and a pastoress in the name of exorcism. Homicidal smothering in adults is rare, but does occur when the victims are not capable of defending themselves in situations such as chronic illness, old age, drug intoxication or when restrained by other people. In this case, distinct facial scalding was a clue to smothering with a hot steam towel.
Adult ; Chronic Disease ; Homicide ; Humans ; Mothers ; Steam

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A Forensic Autopsy Case of Lissencephaly for Evaluating the Possibility of Child Abuse.

Seong Hwan PARK ; Juck Joon HWANG ; Kwang Soo KO ; Sun Hee KIM ; Tae Sung KO ; Min Hee JEONG ; Eun Hye LEE ; Hong Il HA ; Joong Seok SEO

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine.2013;37(2):84-89. doi:10.7580/kjlm.2013.37.2.84

A 9-year-old Korean boy with lissencephaly was found dead at home. He had previously been diagnosed with lissencephaly that presented with infantile spasm on the basis of magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalogram results. Antemortem chromosomal banding revealed a normal karyotype. A legal autopsy was requested to eliminate the possibility of neglect or abuse by his parents. The autopsy findings revealed type I lissencephaly with the associated microcephaly. No external wounds or decubitus ulcers were noted. Postmortem fluorescence in situ hybridization for the LIS1 locus and nucleotide sequence analysis of the whole coding regions of the LIS1 gene did not reveal any deletions. The antemortem and postmortem findings revealed that lissencephaly syndrome was associated with isolated lissencephaly sequence. External causes of death were excluded by the full autopsy and toxicology test results. Because patients with mental retardation are frequently victimized and suffer neglect or abuse, thorough external and internal examinations should be conducted at the time of autopsy.
Autopsy ; Base Sequence ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Child Abuse ; Classical Lissencephalies and Subcortical Band Heterotopias ; Clinical Coding ; Electroencephalography ; Fluorescence ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intellectual Disability ; Karyotype ; Lissencephaly ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Microcephaly ; Parents ; Pressure Ulcer ; Spasms, Infantile ; Toxicology

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Observation of 17 Asphyxial Suicides by Helium Gas.

Hyoung Soo LIM ; Kyung Won HAHM ; Hyun Wook KANG

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine.2013;37(2):78-83. doi:10.7580/kjlm.2013.37.2.78

Since the book "Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying" was published in 1991, there has been a worldwide increase in the number of cases of suicidal asphyxiation using helium gas. However, no domestic reports have been published thus far. Recently, we encountered a case of asphyxial suicide by inhalation of helium from inside a plastic bag. Subsequently, we reviewed the records of the Scientific Crime Analysis System of National Police Agency of Korea. There were 17 cases of helium-associated asphyxial suicides between January 1, 2000 and June 30, 2012. The average age of the deceased was 30.6 years with a male to female ratio of approximately 5:1. Thirteen of 17 such deaths occurred in the victims'houses. In all cases, the method of death involved placing a plastic bag over the head with a hose attached to helium tanks. In 6 of 17 cases, the decedents had psychiatric disorders such as depression. As neither characteristic signs of death nor conventional methods for detecting helium gas exist, a thorough investigation of the death scene and the decedents'environment is extremely vital for confirming death due to helium asphyxiation.
Crime ; Depression ; Female ; Head ; Helium ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Korea ; Male ; Plastics ; Police ; Suicide ; Suicide, Assisted

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Usefulness of Serum Mast Cell Tryptase Analysis in Postmortem Diagnosis of Anaphylactic Shock.

Jong Pil PARK ; Minsung CHOI ; Seong Ho KIM ; Seon Jung JANG ; Hyoung Joong KIM

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine.2013;37(2):73-77. doi:10.7580/kjlm.2013.37.2.73

Anaphylactic deaths are frequently observed at autopsies. Since death associated with medical practice has become social concern, the identification of anaphylactic shock is an important part of forensic medicine. However, autopsy findings of anaphylactic shock are usually non-specific; therefore, the diagnosis of anaphylactic shock must be inferred from collecting data on the past history of the deceased, circumstances of death, and negative autopsy findings. The analysis of serum mast cell tryptase level is a well-known, useful ancillary test for the diagnosis of anaphylactic shock, but is not widely used in daily practice in Korea. We recently encountered 2 autopsy cases of anaphylactic shock and confirmed that analysis of serum mast cell tryptase level was useful for the diagnosis of anaphylactic shock. In this report, we present these 2 autopsy cases of anaphylactic shock, with literature review of the usefulness and limitations of serum mast cell tryptase analysis.
Anaphylaxis ; Autopsy ; Forensic Medicine ; Korea ; Mast Cells ; Tryptases

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