Victims Of Violent Deaths Research Articles

Beyond the virus: Examining the impact of COVID-19 on violent fatalities

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on various aspects of society, including crime rates. In Serbia, it is important to examine the changes in violent deaths before and during the pandemic to inform public health and safety policies. Materials and methodsWe conducted a retrospective, epidemiological, cross-sectional analytical study of medico-legal autopsies in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at the University Clinical Center of Kragujevac. Our study sample comprises all forensic autopsy cases examined from January 2017 to December 2019 (151 cases), labeled as “Before,” and from January 2020 to December 2022 (192 cases), labeled as “During” the pandemic period. Natural deaths, skeletal remains, and undetermined cases were excluded from our sample. ResultsThe data show an increase in the total number of incidents reported from 152 in the “Before” period to 191 in the “During” period. The proportion of incidents involving males remained relatively stable at around 70%, while the proportion of incidents involving females increased. There was no statistically significant change in the proportion of incidents classified as accidental, while the proportion of incidents classified as homicide and suicide increased. The results show a statistically significant association between gender and incident type for both the “Before” and “During” periods. Deaths due to domestic violence have increased by 22.2% during the pandemic, which is cause for concern. In terms of demographic characteristics, males and younger individuals were more likely to be victims of violent deaths both before and during the pandemic. ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on violent deaths in the Šumadija region (Central Serbia), with an overall increase in the number of violent deaths and a major impact on deaths due to domestic violence. Policies to address domestic violence should be prioritized during the pandemic and beyond, and strategies should be developed to mitigate the effects of future pandemics or lockdowns.

Child maltreatment among victims of violent death: an analysis of national violent death reporting system data, 2014–2018

BackgroundLimited information is known about the impact of childhood maltreatment on lifetime risk of violent death. This study aimed to compare manner of death, demographics, age at time of death, and the presence of a mental health or substance use disorder among decedents of violent deaths with a history of child maltreatment to those without.MethodsThis cross-sectional study compared characteristics of pediatric and adult violent deaths with and without a history of child maltreatment that were captured in the National Violent Death Reporting System from 2014 through 2018.ResultsDecedents who were male, multiracial, and had adulthood substance or mental health disorders were more likely to have a history of maltreatment. All-age decedents with a history of maltreatment were more likely to die by homicide. Adult decedents with a history of maltreatment were more likely to die by suicide. Maltreated decedents died significantly younger than non-maltreated decedents.ConclusionsAmong victims of violent deaths, an identified history of child maltreatment was associated with increased risk of homicide across the lifespan, adult suicide, and earlier death. A history of child maltreatment was also associated with mental health and substance use disorders, which may reflect one of the pathways through which the child maltreatment-to-death association functions.

The epidemiological and medico-legal characteristics of violent deaths and spousal homicides through a population of women autopsied within the Forensic Medicine Department of the University Hospital of Annaba

BackgroundDomestic violence is a real public health problem with considerable consequences, ranging from minor injuries to death. Our study aims to determine the epidemiological and forensic characteristics relating to the violent mortality of women, and more particularly spousal homicide.MethodsTo do this, a double survey was conducted. The first step was descriptive and retrospective, and the second survey was analytical and prospective. This latter step covered the most populous age group of murdered women in Algeria, which is eighteen-year-old and over, and subjected a number of these female victims to a medico-judicial autopsy at the level of the thanatology unit for over four years counting two years for each survey (2017–2018 and 2019–2020). Data were entered and processed using Epi-info6 software.ResultsDuring the initial period of our study, we identified 35 cases of violent deaths involving women and representing a frequency of 5.71% of the thanatological activity.During the second period, 12 spousal homicides were recorded and autopsied, representing a frequency of 1.79% of all forensic deaths in the corresponding study period.The average age of the victims was evaluated at 33 ± 12.91 years, with extremes of 19 to 56 years. The age of the perpetrators of spousal homicide was evaluated at 42 ± 10.76 years with extremes ranging from 30 to 60 years.For victims of violent death and spousal homicide, inactivity was a strongly implicated risk factor, with respective frequencies of (88.57%) and (58.33%). Two-thirds of the persecuted women were completely unknown to the healthcare environment and had never consulted a medical professional. This parameter could be one of the predictive signs of spousal homicide.The marital home was the preferred location for violent deaths and spousal homicides. These crimes occurred variably during the period of marriage and eventually after divorce.As for the modus operandi, the perpetrators use many sharp and spinous weapons, including firearms and blunt objects.ConclusionAutopsy and medico-legal investigations took a decisive interest in the identification of the causes of spousal homicide; indeed, many serious traumatic lesions incompatible with life have been highlighted. We underline the crucial role that healthcare professionals must play in the process of identifying and evaluating potentially risky situations.

Tendência temporal e distribuição espacial dos casos de violência letal contra mulheres no Brasil

Objective: to analyze the time trend and the spatial distribution of the cases of lethal violence against women in Brazil, according to age group and to race/skin color. Method: an ecological study of time series, with spatial distribution of the deaths of women victims of aggression, registered in the Mortality Information System, resident in Brazil, Brazilian geographic regions and states. Due to underreporting of deaths in some states, correction factors of the mortality rates were employed. For the trend analysis, we adopted the polynomial regression model. In addition to that, the mean rates and annual upward/downward trends were distributed considering the Brazilian federative units as analysis units. Results: the mean rate was 6.24 cases of lethal violence per 100,000 women, with a significant variation across the Brazilian regions and states. The main victims of violent death in Brazil are young, black-/brown-skinned and indigenous women, with a growing trend in these population segments. The North and Northeast regions stood out with the most significant mean annual increases (0.33; r2= 0.96 and 0.26; r2= 0.92, respectively). Conclusion: there was a stable trend regarding lethal violence against women, with significant regional differences. Young, black-/brown-skinned and indigenous women are more vulnerable to violent death in Brazil.

Victim of violent death: what is the role of alcoholemia?

Introduction: The tendency to impulsive behaviors and/or violence is exacerbated after alcohol consumption. Still, the relation between alcohol/violent deaths reported in the literature is not accurate, and in general, alcohol is only seen as a trigger to aggressive actions. The relationship of the victims with their blood alcohol is less studied. They were especially concerned about the role of alcohol as a risk factor for victims of unnatural death. Thus, our goal is to check the influence of alcohol in victims of violent deaths as homicides, suicides, and accidents. Materials and methods: Retrospectively the medical records of 805 autopsies performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML) of Franco da Rocha, in the period 2001 to 2017 were reviewed. The variables studied were sex, age, types of violent death rates, and alcohol - these were considered positive when above 0.3 mg/ml. The dosage of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was performed using samples of 10 ml of blood collected at necropsy, is preferably taken from the cardiac chambers or of the right femoral vein. Dosages of alcohol in blood samples were done in the Forensic Toxicology Center of the IML by gas chromatography, using the technique of separation “headspace” and double column. Results: Drug testing for alcohol was available for 488 (79.1%) of 617 necropsies. Of the 617 subjects studied, 532 (85.7%) were male, and 85 (13.8%) were females (with high rates of adolescents). The vast majority (n = 230) were killed, and 40.5% of victims had BAC above 0.3 mg/ml of blood. Traffic accidents came next, accounting for 181 deaths, with 41% of victims presenting positive BAC. Discussion: High blood alcohol levels of the victims were associated mainly with the genesis of accidents (drowning, falls, traffic, aspiration/ smothering) and murder (with impaired ability to resist or by causing the release of impulses to engage in violent situations), about 40% of cases. Conclusion: Our results indicate that alcohol abuse is a risk factor for victims of violent death. In these cases, alcohol has two types of action. Direct: contributes to accidents of various kinds - from traffic by decreasing powers of concentration, attention, and loss of reflexes, to other types of accidents such as drowning, falls, swallowing disorders causing airway obstruction, and mechanical asphyxia. And they were indirect, making it easier for individuals to engage in conflict (and thus become victims of crimes).

Alcohol Consumption and Violent Deaths in the City of Sao Paulo in 2015

Background: Excessive alcohol consumption is a serious public health issue, because drunkenness affects critical judgment and self-control, making people more vulnerable to violence and accidents, with thus a potential association between alcohol consumption and violent deaths. Objective: To assess the association between alcohol consumption and violent deaths in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2015, and its relationship with gender, age, cause of death and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of victims. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted by collection of data from 2,882 victims of violent deaths subjected to examination of BAC from the archives of the Institute of Legal Medicine of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Results: Alcohol was detected in blood samples of 27.06% of the victims and mean BAC levels were 1.92 ± 1.24 g/L. The mean age of the victims was 33.49 ± 15.19 years. The majority of the victims were male (84.14%) and the prevalence of positive BAC was higher amongst men (28.74%) than women (18.16%). Homicide was the most prevalent cause of death in the sample (36.57%), but there were a higher proportion of traffic accidents victims with positive BAC (32.01%), as well as higher BAC levels in these victims (46.77% in the range of 1.6–2.5 g/L). Conclusions: The results obtained in this study support a potential association between alcohol consumption and violent deaths in the city of Sao Paulo, mainly in traffic accidents victims.

Prevalence of traumatic orofacial and dental injury in unidentified bodies—Data from a forensic medicine institute in Brazil

Orofacial trauma and traumatic dental injuries (TDI) are serious public health problems due to their high prevalence, severe morbidity, high costs of treatment, and long-term sequelae. However, the extent of the problem may be underestimated since trauma analysis, from a forensic odontology perspective, is not widely represented in the scientific literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of traumatic orofacial injuries (TOI) and TDI in unidentified bodies and their association with the cause of death. A retrospective analysis was conducted of dental and autopsy reports of unidentified bodies admitted to the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Belo Horizonte (IFM-BH), Brazil, between 2015 and 2016. The final sample was made up of 536 bodies.Demographic data, the location where the body was found, cause of death, and the presence and type of orofacial trauma were collected. The mean of the estimated age of the bodies was 38yearsand the median was 35 years. Mostof the bodies were from males (87.5%) and werefound downtown in the city of Belo Horizonte (60.4%). Violence was the most common cause of death (64%), generally by gunshot (48.7%). Bodies with an estimated age ≤35years were eight times more likely to have died from violent causes. TOI was registered in 50.9% of the reports. TDI was observed in 10.8% of the bodies. Victims of violent death were seven times more likely to present TOI. Such association was not observed when the presence of TDI was considered. There is a positive association between TOI and violent death in unidentified bodies.

Characterization of women victims of violent death in a metropolitan area of Northeast Brazil

Objective: To analyze the frequency, body topographic local and the instruments used in women with violent death in the city of Recife and the metropolitan area and in the years from 2000 to 2009. Methods: Data collection was performed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine Persivo Antonio Cunha-PE from March to October 2010. Through a study, of chronological approach, necropsy reports in women residing in the Metropolitan Region of Recife-PE in the years 2000 to 2009 were selected. We analyzed the frequency of deaths, the type of instruments used and the topographic location of the lesion. Statistical analysis used the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, at the significance level of 5%. Results: The frequency distribution showed that the homicide was the 1st reason and represented 36.2% of the total mortality. The accident was the second most common cause with 30.2% followed by the suicides with 5.7%. Regarding the body topographic location, polytrauma presented 29.1% of the occurrences followed by the craniofacial complex with 26.3%. Within the complex craniofacial, the head was the most affected with 27.4%. The face corresponded to 4.2% of the cases. The type of instrument of more incidence was the blunt with 36%, followed by blunt-stabbing with 27%. Conclusion: The homicides demonstrate the magnitude of external causes as cause of premature death among women. The head and neck region is closely linked to the cases of violence against women.

An osteological revisitation of autopsies: Comparing anthropological findings on exhumed skeletons to their respective autopsy reports in seven cases

Forensic anthropologists and pathologists are more and more requested to answer questions on bone trauma. However limitations still exist concerning the proper interpretation of bone fractures and bone lesions in general. Access to known skeletal populations which derive from cadavers (victims of violent deaths) who underwent autopsy and whose autopsy reports are available are obvious sources of information on what happens to bone trauma when subjected to taphonomic variables, such as burial, decomposition, postmortem chemical and mechanical insults; such skeletal collections are still however quite rare. This study presents the results of the comparative analysis between the autopsy findings on seven cadavers (six of which victims of blunt, sharp or gunshot wounds) and those of the anthropological assessment performed 20 years later on the exhumed dry bones (part of the Milano skeletal collection). The investigation allowed us to verify how perimortem sharp, blunt and gunshot lesions appear after a long inhumation period, whether they are still recognizable, and how many lesions are no longer detectable or were not detectable at all compared to the autopsy report. It also underlines the importance of creating skeletal collections with known information on cause of death and trauma.

Activation of the visual cortex in motivated attention.

Functional activation (measured with fMRI) in occipital cortex was more extensive when participants view pictures strongly related to primary motive states (i.e., victims of violent death, viewer-directed threat, and erotica). This functional activity was greater than that observed for less intense emotional (i.e., happy families or angry faces) or neutral images (i.e., household objects, neutral faces). Both the extent and strength of functional activity were related to the judged affective arousal of the different picture contents, and the same pattern of functional activation was present whether pictures were presented in color or in grayscale. It is suggested that more extensive visual system activation reflects "motivated attention," in which appetitive or defensive motivational engagement directs attention and facilitates perceptual processing of survival-relevant stimuli.

The Role of Alcohol in Accident and Violent Deaths in Finland

In Finland, the high rates of forensic autopsy and postmortem toxicology furnish a reliable base for nation-wide studies on alcohol-related violent deaths. National mortality and population data within Finland, from 1987 to 1996, were used to analyze sex- and age-specific rates, proportions, and trends of violent deaths associated with alcohol. Deaths were defined as alcohol-related when alcohol was certified as a contributing factor to death. During the study period, 10,360 (23.3%) of the 45,544 violent deaths that occurred were alcohol-related. Among 15- to 64-year-olds, 28.6% of accidents, 30.5% of suicides, and 55.3% of homicides were associated with alcohol (alcohol-positive). Differences in epidemiologic patterns and trends for different types of violent death were observed between sexes and age groups. For instance, alcohol-positive accidents significantly decreased in males (-2.3%/year; CL95: -3.3, -1.2; p < 0.001), but not in females (+0.5%/year; CL95: -2.7, +3.7; p = 0.772), and alcohol-positive suicides increased slightly in females (+3.9%/year; CL95: +0.0, +7.9; p = 0.047), but not in males (-0.2%/year, CL95: -1.4, +1.0; p = 0.704). The victims of violent deaths have often consumed or abused alcohol before the fatal events. Especially in young adults, consumption of alcohol is likely one of the most serious risk factors in accidents and may decrease the threshold for suicide ideation and impulsive behaviors. Studies that explore the effects of sociodemographic and health factors on random populations with relevant control data will increase the understanding of the causal connection between alcohol and violent deaths.

Histological and histochemical studies on local coronary wall thickenings (cushions) in Finnish children who died violently

Coronary arteries of 93 clinically healthy Finnish children of both sexes were collected from successive, medicolegal autopsies of victims of violent death. In the histological and histochemical study, local, cushion-type thickenings of the coronary walls were demonstrable in 47, i.e. 50 per cent, of the children, the occurrence increasing with age. The most prominent change was the splitting of the internal elastic membrane and the accumulation of smooth muscle cells, forming a new, musculo-elastic layer. Glycosaminoglycans appeared in the luminal parts of the thickenings. There was an average decrease in the succinate dehydrogenase reaction in the cushion area, implying a degenerative process. The increase in the reaction of "injury markers", acid phosphatase and esterase based on the increase of cells rich in these enzymes, indicated pathologic process. It was concluded that change of this kind, demonstrable early in childhood, may dispose coronary arteries to atherosclerosis.

Postmortem Diagnosis of Myocardial Disease by Enzyme Analysis of Pericardial Fluid

The authors measured the activities of CK, LDH, and their isoenzymes in pericardial fluid to determine their usefulness in evaluating acute myocardial injury. Their prospective study reveals that these enzymes significantly are elevated in cardiac deaths in contrast to fatalities from noncardiac causes. Also, a group of healthy individuals who were victims of violent deaths and died from extracardiac injuries had enzyme elevations greater than those found in acute cardiac deaths, suggesting catecholamine-mediated myocardial injury (stress cardiomyopathy) as part of the physiologic response to trauma. Measurements of cardiac enzymes in pericardial fluid may prove useful in establishing the postmortem diagnosis of acute myocardial injury in instances when such injury is suspected but cannot be established by ordinary histologic methods. Studies such as this may help in defining the participation of myocardial injury as one of the lethal mechanisms in various causes of death.

Victims of violent death: A critical review.

Victims of violent death: A critical review.

Victims of violent death: A critical review.

Victims of violent death: A critical review.