Evaluation of medicolegal death cases sent from abroad to the province of Denizli

Abstract

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to contribute to the literature by discussing the difficulties encountered in the approach to suspicious death cases reported abroad and sent to our country.
 Materials and methods: The findings were obtained by retrospectively reviewing all medico-legal death cases sent from abroad to Denizli province between January 2012 and December 2022, in which death examination and autopsy were performed.
 Results: Of the 12 cases included in the study, 3 were female and 9 were male, the youngest case was 2 years old and the oldest case was 66 (median 49) years old. Germany was the country to which the most suspicious death cases were sent with nine cases (75%), while one case each was sent from Turkmenistan, the Netherlands and Austria. When the cases were evaluated in terms of origin, it was observed that 5 (41%) cases were of natural origin followed by 4 (33%) cases of suicide origin.
 Conclusion: : In order to minimize the problems encountered in the re-evaluation of medico-legal death cases from abroad, we think that it would be appropriate for all countries to perform medico-legal autopsy in accordance with international standards for suspicious death cases sent abroad, and to share the report containing the autopsy findings and all documents that may help to clarify the cause of death of the person with the forensic medicine experts in the country of destination.