Background: As acute poisoning continues to be an important public health problem, and represents a frequent cause of admission in emergency departments, there is a constant need to have up to date information about it. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the demographical, aetiological and clinical characteristics of acute poisonings who were admitted to a university hospital in the south part of Turkey. Methods: The data of 195 acute poisoning patients who were admitted to the Emergency Department of Mersin University were retrospectively studied. Results: Most poisonings occurred in the age range 0–6 years (57.5%) for children and 17–25 year (46.7%) for adults. The overall female to male ratio was 1.26. Drugs were the most common cause of poisonings (55.4%). Among the drug poisonings, psychotropics (41.7%) were the most frequent agent, followed by analgesics (20.4%). 67.7% of the cases presented to the emergency department within 3 hours of poisoning and the procedures for elimination of poison were performed in most of them. The clinical status of the patients on arrival was generally good. 69.2% of the patients were hospitalized. The mean duration of hospitalization was 2.49±2.8 days. 41.8% of the suicidal cases had a history of psychiatric disorders; 92.8% of the patients were discharged home after toxicological treatment; 2.6% of the cases died. Conclusion: Further studies are necessary to collect more data and these data will be helpful not only for determining risk factors of acute poisonings but also for developing education and prevention programmes.

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The results showed the importance of hemodynamic status in growth and neurodevelopment of children with congenital heart disease. Besides routine growth parameters, more detailed examinations such as BMI, MAC, TSF, and developmental screening tests appear useful in identifying children with cardiac disease who are under risk for delayed growth and development.

Objectives: In the Turkish legal system the severity of the victim's injury determines the severity of the criminal penalty, and the life threatening condition stated in the medical-legal report is one of the main determinants for injury severity. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness and usefulness of the trauma scores in determining the life threatening condition of trauma victims from the forensic aspect in order to write accurate medical-legal reports. Methods: Data of 296 forensic cases with blunt and penetrating trauma were obtained. The life threatening condition of patients stated in the medical-legal reports according to the criteria based on traditional forensic opinion were examined. For each case, Injury Severity Score (ISS), Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and Trauma and Injury Severity Score (TRISS) were calculated. The ROC curve analysis was used to investigate the success of the trauma scores in distinguishing patients with/without life threatening conditions. Logistic regression analysis was performed to measure the association between trauma scores and life threatening conditions. Results: The relations between all scores and groups (with and without life threatening risk) were found statistically significant. ISS was the most successful method in distinguishing traumatised patients both in a life threatening or non life threatening condition. Conclusions: Trauma scores can be used for making more objective, standardised, and accurate judgement on whether the injury was a life threatening one or not. These advantages of using trauma scores in such situations will also be helpful for the conclusion of the lawsuits shortly, but further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Forensic reports on traumatic peripheral nerve injuries include dysfunction degrees of extremities, which are arranged according to the Turkish Penalty Code. The aim of this study is to discuss the role and importance of electromyography while preparing forensic reports in the cases of traumatic peripheral nerve injuries and the usefulness of scoring systems. A modified global scale, recommended by Mondelli et al., was used to assess the electrophysiological impairment of each peripheral nerve. Forensic reports of 106 patients, reported between 2002 and 2004, were evaluated. Thirty-four percent of the cases were reported as "total loss of function," 41.5% were reported as "functional disability," and there were no dysfunctions in the other cases in forensic reports that were prepared based on Council of Social Insurance Regulations of Health Processes and Guide prepared by the Council of Forensic Medicine and profession associations of forensic medicine. When we rearranged these forensic reports based on the electrophysiological severity scale (ESS), it was clearly found that all of the score 2 cases and 86.7% of the score 3 cases corresponded to "functional disability" and 91.4% of the score 4 cases correspond to "total loss of function." We found a significant correlation between the ESS and functional evaluation in peripheral nerve injury cases. Evaluation of functional disabilities in peripheral nerve injuries with the ESS represents a standardized and objective method used for forensic reports.