@article{ref1,
title="Axonal injury--a diagnostic tool in forensic neuropathology? A review",
journal="Forensic science international",
year="1998",
author="Oehmichen, M. and Meissner, C. and Schmidt, V. and Pedal, I. and Konig, H. G. and Saternus, K. S.",
volume="95",
number="1",
pages="67-83",
abstract="We used beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) to investigate our own forensic neuropathological case material (n = 252) in light of the current literature on the phenomenon &quot;axonal injury&quot; (AI) to determine the incidence, specificity and biomechanical significance of AI and its significance for determining vitality and survival time. The case material consisted of cases of fatal nonmissile closed-head injury (n = 119), gunshot injury (n = 30), fatal cerebral ischemia/hypoxia (n = 51), brain death caused by mechanical trauma (n = 14) or nonmechanical injury (n = 18), and acute hemorrhagic shock (n = 20). AI was observed in 65% to 100% of cases of closed-head injury, fatal cerebral ischemia/hypoxia, and brain death with a survival time of more than 3 h; AI could not be detected in the cases of acute hemorrhagic shock. A statistically significant difference between traumatically and nontraumatically induced (nondisruptive) AI was not found. There was no statistical evidence of a correlation between AI and the different types of external force, since AI could be demonstrated after both acceleration/deceleration injuries and traumatic impact. Therefore, biomechanical inferences for reconstruction purposes are not possible. On the other hand, beta-APP was found to be a definite marker of vitality. In our material, cases with a posttraumatic interval of under 180 min did not express beta-APP. Moreover, the literature shows that the posttraumatic interval can be determined by other methods for demonstration of AI such as by ubiquitin immunostaining (360 min), silver staining (15-18 h), hematoxylin and eosin staining (about 24 h), or by demonstration of a microglial reaction (about 4 to 10 days) or of a few remaining isolated bulbs, without accompanying fibers, which can be detected after a survival time of up to 17 months.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0379-0738",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}