Primary pericardial mesothelioma is an extremely rare and lethal cardiac tumor. We report an autopsy case of a primary pericardial mesothelioma in a 52-year-old man. He developed dyspnea, cough, low-grade fever and night sweats approximately 3 months before last admission. Initially, he was evaluated at a hospital in another city, without a firm diagnosis. Due to progressive symptoms and the development of lower-extremity edema, he presented at our hospital in September 2005. The physical examination at admission demonstrated signs of pericardial tamponade. Chest radiography revealed marked enlargement of the cardiac silhouette. Specimens of bloody pericardial fluid were positive for pericardial mesothelioma by cytologic examination. The general condition of the patient worsened very rapidly and he was transferred to the intensive care unit where he later died. Postmortem examination confirmed primary pericardial mesothelioma of the mixed/biphasic type with lymphatic metastasis in the right lung. By using immunohistochemical analysis for specific markers of mesothelioma and for differentiation of the mesothelioma from the lung adenocarcinoma, definitive diagnosis was established: primary pericardial mesothelioma

BackgroundAs a continuation of the previous findings in human fetuses, accidental finding of an accessory vascular component in the posterior part of CAC of human adult cadavers inspired the authors to present and compare its posterior part configuration.Case presentationExamination was carried out on brains of 48 human adult cadavers, routinely dissected at the Institute of Forensic Medicine. The aberrant vessel in the posterior part of four CACs was discovered.Vascular components of the posterior segment of CAC or of the whole CAC were described and photographed. A comparison between fetal and adult cases was also presented.ConclusionsBased on the fact that the age of the four presented cases ranged from 73 to 84 and based on the causes of their death, we concluded that the angioarchitecture of the posterior part of the CAC is a consequence of the embryonic or primitive arterial stabilization and interaction with normal adult vessels.

The ultrastructural research has a decisive role in gathering the knowledge on the liver's response to the influence of some drugs. The aim of the study was to perform an ultrastructural analysis of the liver in chronic intravenous heroin addicts.The study involved the autopsy conducted on 40 bodies of intravenous heroin addicts and 10 control autopsies. The liver tissue was fixed in glutaraldehyde and moulded with epon for investigation purposes of ultrastructural changes. The analysis was performed using the method of transmission electron microscopy.In the group of intravenous heroin addicts, the liver autopsy samples showed degenerative vesicular and fat changes, chronic active and persistent hepatitis, cirrhosis, reduction in the amount of glycogen in hepatocytes, as well as the Kupffer cell's dominant hypertrophy. Various changes occur in organelles, plasma membrane of hepatocytes and biliary channels as well as in the nucleus. The most important ultrastructural findings include: hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, which is histologically proven vesicular degeneration of hepatocyte occurring as a result of the increased synthesis of enzymes of smooth endoplasmic reticulum due to chronic intravenous heroin intake, and the presence of continuous basal membrane followed by transformation of the sinusoids into capillaries (in the cases of chronic active hepatitis and cirrhosis) which leads to a disorder of microcirculation and further progress of cirrhosis.

No abstract

Introduction/Objective Domestic violence is a phenomenon as old as the history of human civilization, present in all cultures, epochs and social systems. Despite the fact that domestic violence represents a dangerous and unacceptable social phenomenon, as well as a significant medical problem, there are still no precise data on the prevalence of this phenomenon in our country. This study aims to determine the elementary forensic characteristics of domestic violence that would represented the basis for future medical research in this field. Methods A total of 4,593 records of forensic autopsy (n = 3,120) and clinical forensic medical examinations (n = 1,473) were analyzed in the 1996-2005 period in order to determine the cases of domestic violence. Results The analysis encompassed 300 cases (6.5%) of clinically examined (n = 211; 70.3%) and autopsied (n = 89; 29.7%) victims of domestic violence. A statistically significant increase in domestic violence cases (χ 2 = 12.74; p = 0.00036) was determined in the observed period. The victims were mostly females (78%), with the mean age of 45.8 years (min = 0.3; max = 85; SD = 17.7), married (45%), with personal income (74.4%), and urban residence (66.3%). The majority of abusers were males (89.3%). Intimate partner violence was present in 58.3% of the cases. Physical abuse was the most common form of violence (97.7%), while sexual violence (2.3%) and child abuse (4.3%) were rarely recorded. Conclusion The results of this research indicate that forensic medicine can be of great help in designing appropriate standards for conducting clinical medical examination, preventive programs, and strategies in fighting domestic violence.