Mechanical Death Research Articles

Assessment of Some Biochemical Parameters in Vitreous Humor of Rabbits Exposed to Sodium Cyanide

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess some biochemical parameters in the vitreous humor of Rabbits exposed to sodium cyanide.
 Study Design: This study is an interventional study.
 Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at Animal House, Applied and Environmental Biology Department, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, between April 2020 and November 2020.
 Methodology: A total of twelve (12) rabbits as indicated by Mead’s formula constituted the sample size. The study was divided into three groups including the control. 1 mg/kg sodium cyanide was administered to the rabbits orally in group one and vitreous humor was collected using standard procedure after thirty minutes. In group two the rabbits were put to death mechanically and 1 mg/kg sodium cyanide was administered to the rabbits after thirty minutes, vitreous humor was collected after thirty minutes using standard procedure. The rabbits in group three, control group, were put to death mechanically and nothing was given to the rabbits, then after thirty minutes vitreous humor was collected using standard procedure. Biochemical parameters investigated included vitreous glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, very low density lipoprotein cholesterol, total proteins (TP), albumin (ALB), total bilirubin, conjugated bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities. Data were expressed as mean ± SD. Statistical differences between groups were computed using Graph pad prism 7.0 version developed by Graph pad software, San Siago, Califonia, USA. Results were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and significance between groups was taken at p<.05.
 Results: Vitreous biochemical results showed significant (p<.05) increase in levels of TC, LDL-C, AST, ALT, TB and CB in rabbits given 1 mg/kg sodium cyanide compared to control. Significant (p<.05) decrease in levels of glucose, TP and ALB were also observed. This study also revealed that there was no significant (p<.05) difference in biochemical results of rabbits given 1 mg/kg sodium cyanide thirty minutes after they were put to death mechanically compared to the control. It can be concluded that a lethal dose of sodium cyanide (1 mg/kg) may lead to alterations in vitreous biochemical parameters and this may enhance death differentiation due to sodium cyanide poisoning and other causes of death for example mechanical death. 
 Conclusion: The findings of this study support a central role for vitreous humor biochemistry in many postmortem forensic and pathological evaluations and it could also be used for death differentiation in sodium cyanide poisoning.

Time trend in the risk of delivery-related perinatal and neonatal death associated with breech presentation at term

To determine the factors associated with the risk of delivery-related perinatal and neonatal death among term infants presenting by the breech and the effect of changes in the mode of delivery on the overall rates of perinatal and neonatal mortality associated with breech presentation. We studied 32,776 singleton term infants presenting breech excluding anomalous and antepartum losses in Scotland between 1985 and 2004, using linked Scottish national registries of pregnancy outcome data and perinatal death data. The event was delivery-related perinatal and neonatal death (i.e. intrauterine fetal death during labour or death of infant in the first 4 weeks of life), subdivided according to intrapartum anoxia or mechanical cause of death. Analysis was by multivariate logistic regression. During the study period, the risk of delivery-related perinatal and neonatal death decreased by 72% (95% CI -1% to 93%), due to a 90% (95% CI 33-99%) reduction in anoxic or mechanical deaths. Both intrapartum (OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.02-0.75) and planned (OR 0.01, 95% CI 0.00-0.09) caesarean delivery were protective against anoxic or mechanical deaths and increased use of planned caesarean delivery accounted for 16% of the decline in anoxic and mechanical deaths over the study period. Increased use of planned caesarean delivery only partly explains the decline in delivery-related perinatal and neonatal death between 1985 and 2004 in Scotland.

Gender differences in in-hospital mortality and mechanisms of death after the first acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUNDThere are conflicting data about gender differences in short-term mortality after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) after adjusting for age and other prognostic factors. Therefore, we investigated the risk profile, clinical presentation, in-hospital mortality and mechanisms of death in women and men after the first AMI.METHODSThe data were obtained from a chart review of 3382 consecutive patients, 1184 (35%) women (69.7±10.9 years) and 2198 (65%) men (63.5±11.8 years) with a first AMI. The effect of gender and its interaction with age, risk factors and thrombolytic therapy on overall mortality and mechanisms of death were examined using logistic regression.RESULTSUnadjusted in-hospital mortality was higher in women (OR 1.77, 95% CI 1.47–2.15). Adjustment that included both age only and age and other base-line differences (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, AMI type, AMI site, mean peak CK value, thrombolytic therapy) decreased the magnitude of the relative risk of women to men but did not eliminate it (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.03–1.54 and OR 1.31 95% CI 1.03–1.66, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that female gender was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality after the first AMI. Women were dying more often because of mechanical complications—refractory pulmonary edema and cardiogenic shock (P=0.02) or electromechanical dissociation (P=0.03), and men were dying mostly by arrhythmic death, primary ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation (P=0.002). Female gender was independently associated with mechanical death (OR 1.56, 95% CI 1.35–2.58; P=0.01) and anterior AMI was independently associated with arrhythmic death (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34–0.86; P=0.01).CONCLUSIONOur results demonstrate significant differences in mechanisms of in-hospital death after the first AMI in women and men, suggesting the possibility that higher in-hospital mortality in women exists primarily because of the postponing AMI death due to the gender-related differences in susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias following acute coronary events.