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Abstract: The aim of this project was to evaluate the Cozart® RapiScan Oral fluid Drug Testing System as an on-site screening tool for vitreous humor samples collected during post-mortem examinations. Vitreous humor is easy to collect and as it is contained within the eye it is almost completely unaffected by post-mortem redistribution. The ability to carry out an initial drug screen on vitreous humor at the earliest stage of the death investigation process could contribute significantly to the assessment of the role drugs may have played prior to confirmation with toxicological analyses at the laboratory. Vitreous humor (n =146) was collected from autopsy examinations (111 males and 35 females) with a specific focus on cases where death occurred following a road traffic accident or where an overdose was suspected. All samples were screened using the five-panel methadone Cozart® RapiScan Cartridge with an overall positive rate of 29%. Of the positive results, 43% screened positive for benzodiazepines, 17% for cocaine, 7% for methadone and 33% for opiates. Positive samples, with the exception of benzodiazepines, and 20% of negative samples were analysed by GC/MS. This is the first reported use of this system as an on-site forensic tool in death investigation and for screening for drugs of abuse in vitreous humor. The conclusions from this study show that the Cozart® RapiScan System could play an important role in obtaining information on the toxicological state of the person at the time of death. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and Aim: COVID-19 is an extremely challenging disease, both from a clinical and forensic point of view, and performing autopsies of COVID-19 deceased requires adequately equipped sectorial rooms and exposes health professionals to the risk of contagion. Among one of the categories that are most affected by SARS-Cov-2 infection are the elderly residents. Despite the need for prompt diagnoses, which are essential to implement all isolation measures necessary to contain the infection spread, deceased subjects in long-term care facilities are still are often diagnosed post-mortem. In this context, our study focuses on the use of post-mortem computed tomography for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection, in conjunction with post-mortem swabs. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of post-mortem whole CT-scanning in identifying COVID-19 pneumonia as a cause of death, by comparing chest CT-findings of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities to control cases., Materials and Methods: The study included 24 deceased subjects: 13 subjects coming from long-term care facility and 11 subjects died at home. Whole body CT scans were performed within 48 h from death in all subjects to evaluate the presence and distribution of pulmonary abnormalities typical of COVID-19-pneumonia, including: ground-glass opacities (GGO), consolidation, and pleural effusion to confirm the post-mortem diagnosis., Results: Whole-body CT scans was feasible and allowed a complete diagnosis in all subjects. In 9 (69%) of the 13 cases from long-term care facility the cause of death was severe COVID 19 pneumonia, while GGO were present in 100% of the study population., Conclusion: In the context of rapidly escalating COVID-19 outbreaks, given that laboratory tests for the novel coronavirus is time-consuming and can be falsely negative, the post-mortem CT can be considered as a reliable and safe modality to confirm COVID-19 pneumonia. This is especially true for specific postmortem chest CT-findings that are rather characteristic of COVID-19 fatalities., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest None., (Crown Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Methane is a suffocating gas, and "methane deaths" are largely the result of suffocation by gas-air displacement after accidental or deliberate exposure. Neither methane gas nor other suffocating gases are a common means of homicide, with the potential exception of the use of gas in chemical weapons or gas chambers. Here, we report the case of a 53-year-old woman who was killed by her husband with methane gas. The man had given his wife a dose of Lorazepam before setting up a hose that conveyed methane from the kitchen into the apartment's bedroom. The man subsequently faked his own suicide, which was later discovered., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Post-mortem diagnosis of chronic alcohol abuse is a challenge for forensic experts due to the lack of pathognomonic morphological findings and often also inadequate background information. Objective methods demonstrating chronic excessive alcohol consumption would therefore be a useful tool for forensic pathologists. In clinical practice, several markers of chronic alcohol abuse have recently been introduced, among which carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is the most accepted, but the use of these markers in autopsy has not yet been established. We examined post-mortem stability and possible post-mortem redistribution of CDT and compared two analytical methods, capillary zone electrophoresis and high-performance liquid chromatography. According to our results, CDT remains stable for an appreciable time after death. The results further indicate that CDT is not subject to major post-mortem redistribution.

Fatalities due to animal bites, the vast majority of which are associated with dogs and big cats, are relatively uncommon and rarely described in the literature. Especially rare are fatal bear attacks on humans. We herein present a forensic investigation of a fatal assault, involving numerous bites on a 42-year-old man in Finland by an European brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos).

Carbohydrate deficient transferrin (CDT) is currently the most specific laboratory marker of chronic or sustained alcohol abuse. CDT is increasingly being used as a diagnostic tool in the areas employment, traffic safety and forensic medicine. In recent times, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been proposed as a convenient tool for rapid, precise and accurate CDT determination, not only for research but also for routine analyses. Quite recently, commercial kits have been introduced which, reportedly, could simplify and standardize CDT analysis with capillary electrophoresis. The present work was aimed at testing the ruggedness of a capillary electrophoretic method based on a commercial kit (CEofix, Analis), by comparing the results obtained with different instruments in different laboratories, on a panel of sera randomly collected and exchanged. The results showed, notwithstanding few outliers, excellent correlation of the results obtained in the two laboratories (R=0.974). Also high concordance was found when results were classified as positive or negative on the basis of a cut-off (1.25%) established from a control group of teetotalers. In conclusion the present data support the usefulness of capillary electrophoresis for CDT determination for clinical, forensic and administrative diagnosis of chronic alcohol abuse.