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A retrospective study was carried out on 126 suicide cases autopsied at the Forensic Medicine Center in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from 2000 to 2003. Of these 126 cases, 109 (86.5%) were males and 17 (13.49%) were females, and the ratio of the males to females was 6.4:1 with the highest ratio in 2000 (10:1). Around 88% of the studied subjects were in their third or fourth decades. The largest percentage of suicides were among non-Saudis, and the highest is the Indian population with 54 cases (42.85%), followed by Saudi nationals (15.07%) and then ten other nationalities. Suicide by hanging was the most common method (89.68%), followed by firearms in only eight individuals (5.55%) and other four methods of suicide. Family troubles were documented in 5.5% of cases. While a history of psychological illnesses was more than double this figure, 13.49%. Suicide notes were discovered at the scene of death in five cases. Postmortem blood alcohol was found in only 5.55% of cases, and toxicological analysis resulted in the detection of amphetamine and cannabinoids in 3.69% and 1.587% of them, respectively. There was an unstable curve in suicide rate in Dammam; in 2000 there were 33 cases, with fewer in 2001, more in 2002, and the fewest in 2003.

Medico-legal tasks are not exclusive to forensic medical experts –any physician may face medico-legal issues in his career. Hence, the practice of medicine requires education in legal issues. In Saudi Arabia, there are 30 universities with medical colleges, but we do not know how they teach undergraduate forensic medicine and medico-legal issues. The aim of this study was to discover undergraduate training courses in forensic medicine in Saudi universities. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving all colleges of medicine in Saudi Arabia. A structured, self-administered questionnaire containing 13 items relating to the undergraduate forensic medicine course was distributed. Out of a total of 30 universities, 27 universities responded. Of these 27 universities, 16 (59.26%) teach forensic medicine to undergraduate medical students, and 11 (40.74%) do not teach forensic medicine in their undergraduate curriculum. Of the 27 universities that responded, none has a department of forensic medicine. Eleven universities that do not teach forensic medicine have no forensic medicine unit/division or faculty at all. Forensic medicine belongs to the pathology department in 11 universities, while it belongs to different departments in five universities. There is variation in teaching methods, years where the course is taught and length of the course. Practical and morgue visits take place in 7/16 (43.8%) universities, while 9/16 (56.3%) universities only teach the theoretical aspects of forensic medicine. All 16 universities teach forensic medicine only to medical students and do not teach it to students in other colleges such as dentistry and nursing.

The present study provides a database of various morphometric dimensions of the foramen magnum region in the Saudi population. The objective of this study was to evaluate various measurements of the foramen magnum region for sex determination in the Saudi population by using computed tomography (CT) images. The various radiological measurements of the foramen magnum region were measured in a total of 200 adult subjects of Saudi origin including 100 males and 100 females. Sexual dimorphism was observed in five parameters related to the foramen magnum, namely length of the right occipital condyle (LROC), length of the left occipital condyle (LLOC), width of the foramen magnum (WFM), area of the foramen magnum (AFM) and length of the foramen magnum (LFM). The accuracy to discriminate sex ranged from 65.5% to 62.5% when LROC, LLOC, WFM, AFM, and LFM were considered as individual parameters. When multiple parameters were combined to discriminate sex, the highest accuracy of 71% was achieved.

A retrospective study was carried out on 125 homicide victims autopsied from 2006 to 2010 at the Forensic Medicine Center in Dammam Saudi Arabia. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It is a thriving modern economic hub and hosts the largest oil company in the world. The Forensic Medicine Center in Dammam covers most of the cities in this province, which has a population of around two million. The aim of this study is to provide a database representing injury mortality in Dammam and to establish a system that will record information about homicidal deaths, identify new trends and give priority to violence prevention. Of these cases, 104 (83.2%) were males and 21 (16.8%) were females, and in 97 cases (77.6%) the victims were between the ages of 21 and 50 years. Local Saudi nationals comprised the maximum proportion of victims (46.4%), followed by Indian (22.6%) and Bangladeshi (19.8%). Most of the homicides occurred during daytime (80.1%), and summer was the most common season among the homicides. Among this sample, the most common type of injury was caused by blunt force (35.2%), followed by sharp force (34.4%), and firearms (25.6%). Injuries were inflicted to the chest in 29.6% of cases and to the head in 26.4% of cases. Most of the cases (98.3%) were caused by a single offender, whereas multiple offenders were accused in the remainder. Only in 31% of cases was the victim hospitalized. Postmortem blood alcohol was found in 8%, amphetamine in 3%, and opiates in 2.1% of the victims.

The thorax represents a significant percentage of the total body surface area and contains the vital heart and lungs, and other wide-ranging internal structures. As a result, the thorax is potentially subjected to a variety of trauma from mechanical forces that cause significant morbidity and mortality. A significant proportion of unnatural deaths across the globe occur as a result of trauma to the thorax, and therefore an understanding of the pathophysiology of thoracic trauma is essential to the practice of forensic pathology.

This article seeks to address and dispel some of the popular myths and misconceptions surrounding authorship of a scientific publication as this is often misconstrued by beginners in academia especially those in the developing world. While ethical issues in publishing related to authorship have been increasingly discussed, not much has been written about the myths and misconceptions of who might be an author. Dispelling these myths and misconceptions would go a long way in shaping the thoughts and plans of students, junior faculty and researchers in academia especially in the developing world.

Toxicology is divided into several branches. This chapter considers the branch of forensic toxicology that involves the implementation and utilization of toxicology in the legal system for the provision of justice. Histopathological findings in forensic autopsies reveal both specific and nonspecific characteristics of diseases depending on the toxin and the organ affected. Most toxins are transported through the circulatory system; the heart is one of the major organs affected by toxic substances. This chapter focuses on the toxins that are commonly found in forensic practice: cocaine, narcotics, cannabis, alcohol, anabolic androgenic steroids, antiarryhthmics, β-adrenoceptor antagonists, calcium channel blocking agents, and antidepressant drugs. A forensic pathologist faces several challenges. One of them is detecting and correctly interpreting morphological changes that occur in cardiovascular tissues that are similar to those from other pathological processes not induced by drugs. This makes the diagnostic procedure in forensic pathology more difficult because pathologists are required to distinguish between the changes. In the postmortem setting, analysis and detection of drugs is another challenging task. The analysis must be performed on whole blood rather than on serum or plasma, making it necessary to use more cumbersome extraction methods; and the interpretation is also more difficult due to changes in blood concentrations after death. Postmortem investigation can, however, benefit from the ability to analyze several different tissues, such as liver, gastric contents, and hair, which may assist in the interpretation.

High-quality scientific literature is the cornerstone of scientific progress and is highly regarded by academia. However, scientific literature is often marred by plagiarism, data fabrication and falsification, redundant publication and illegitimate authorship. These problems are discussed in this article.

In the world of evidence-based medicine, the need for research cannot be overstated. While the helm of such research if being conducted by trained scientists in secluded labs, one often forgets that these scientists were students too at one point in time. If their interest was not honed then, we might still be fighting polio today. Thus with this editorial we hope to usher more students into research at the undergraduate level.

Background Crimes towards children have drawn public attention over the decades. Several studies have been conducted to determine the risk factors of victimizing children. Conducting studies of this crime in Cairo, the capital city of Egypt, would help in understanding the motives behind it in such a densely populated area. Research design and methodology A review of death charts was conducted in Zeinhom morgue in the years of 2006–2010 to study the trends and characteristics of child homicide in Cairo. The cut-off for a child age was at 18 years. Data related to the victim and offender was collected. Results Child homicides represented 7.97% of total child deaths in the studied period. Most of them (25%) fall in the age group of 1–6 years. Females were the majority in the age group of 12–18 years (89%). The offender was the father in 28% of cases and the cause of death was mainly trauma to the head (42%). Conclusion Further studies should be conducted to discern the risk factors of this crime in Cairo with special considerations to the motives behind murdering females in teen ages.

Victims of sexual assault must be completely evaluated and managed, while the history, physical examination and forensic evidence collection is almost standard procedures, many of forensic physicians in different countries vary in medical aftercare of the victim. Aftercare is a vital component of recovery for the sexual assault victim, every effort must be made to provide the victim with adequate care among rape victims, and follow-up rates are low in many countries, especially developing countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Many studies showed those who do come in for follow-up have physical complaints and health-related concerns that are related to their assault. This review is designed to assist states in the development of sexual assault protocols especially in medical after care. The issues were addressed in when and how medical aftercare provided as in developed countries such as UK and USA. Such care must be provided and evaluated by forensic physician then refer to another medical discipline if needed, the components of this aftercare include HIV , Hepatitis B, STD prophylaxis and screening in addition to pregnancy control and psychological support .Because it is difficult to evaluate victims who did not undergo appropriate post-assault follow up, it is good to look for victim who undergo under appropriate follow up and see how much they benefit and passed the risk of physical and psychological harm.

Demographic assessment of skeletal remains in forensic investigations includes identification of sex. The present study aimed to develop population-specific, sex-discriminating anthropometric standards for the mastoid triangle of a documented Saudi population using computed tomographic (CT) images of the lateral aspect of the skull. The present study was performed on 206 CT images of a documented Saudi population of known sex and age. The clinical CT images of subjects visiting the Department of Radiology, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia (KSA) were evaluated to know the validity of the metric assessment of the mastoid triangle for identification of sex in a Saudi population. The distance between asterion to porion (AP), asterion to mastoidale (AM), porion to mastoidale (PM) were measured and the area of the mastoid triangle (AMT) was calculated using these measurements. Discriminant function procedure was used to analyze the data for sexual dimorphism. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that all the 3 sides of the mastoid triangle and AMT were sexually dimorphic in the sampled Saudi population with PM being the best individual parameter in discriminating sex with an accuracy of 69.4%. Whereas, all the parameters combined showed the highest accuracy (71.4%).