SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Johnson MW, Stoll L, Rubio A, Troncoso J, Pletnikova O, Fowler DR, Li L. J. Forensic Sci. 2011; 56(5): 1198-1205.

Affiliation

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), Urban County Government Center, Louisville, KY. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Departments of Pathology and Neurology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD. Key Laboratory of Evidence Science, China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01814.x

PMID

21595698

Abstract

  We tested the independent utility of β-amyloid precursor protein (β-APP) immunohistochemical staining as evidence of brain trauma in the deaths of young children. Blinded reviewers retrospectively reviewed immunostained brain tissues from homicidal deaths, age-matched control cases without evidence of trauma, as well as cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The reviewers correctly identified five of the seven cases with documented inflicted head trauma. However, one of seven age-matched control cases and one of 10 SIDS/sudden unexplained death in infancy (SUDI) cases demonstrated staining patterns similar to those seen in cases of inflicted trauma. We discuss these cases and the circumstances surrounding them with the intent to explain the difficulties associated with immunohistological interpretation of axonal injury. Although the utility of β-APP is quite powerful if not confounded by global hypoxic-ischemic injury, ultimately, β-APP studies should be only one piece of information in the determination of cause and manner of death.


Language: en

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print