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Biomedical subjects

H Bratzke

Publications and source records attributed to H Bratzke.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

[Biomechanical and morphologic reconstruction of a questionable case of child abuse].

A 3-month-old baby died 8 days after admission to the hospital as a result of injuries received under unknown circumstances. The forensic autopsy revealed a fracture of the scull and a severe blunt injury to the head and brain. Histological investigation of the reactive changes at and around the edges of the fracture showed that the trauma could not possibly have been congenital. According to the defendant, the baby boy had been lying on the table used for changing his nappy and almost fell off it. The defendant moved "instinctively" to catch him, and this "reflex movement" caused the injuries observed. The event was then reconstructed by the criminal investigators and this reconstruction, coupled with the authors' biomechanical experiments using stroboscopic recording, revealed that the defendant's statement could not be true, as the force necessary to inflict the injuries was much greater than could be explained by an attempt to catch the baby.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1989

[Central pontine myelosis. Morphology and forensic importance].

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) evidently occurs more frequently than had been assumed up to now owing to the cases that have been substantiated solely on the basis of pathological anatomy. Its genesis is still unclarified. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance methods allow detection of the foci while the affected person is still alive. They are clearly capable of regression and are not automatically accompanied by a poor prognosis. Since an iatrogenic factor (forced compensation of hyponatremia) is increasingly under discussion as the cause of CPM, the condition also has substantial significance from a forensic point of view. On the basis of a prospective study on CPM confirmed in 100 brains of alcoholics, as well as 4 further cases from the forensic autopsy material, it is shown that hyponatremia is not likely to be the sole triggering factor. The course of the condition in the cases investigated shows that the capacity for action may be preserved up to death (which has occurred for other reasons) in not very pronounced CPM. In questionable violent and other unclear deaths, CPM must also be considered a possible cause of death. The various hypotheses on its etiology in the extensive literature are compared with the findings in our own cases and discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Biomechanical analysis of movement using stroboscopy].

In cases when violence has occurred in some form and its associated forces are subject to expert evaluation. For a mathematical assessment of the intensity of the acting forces there is often a lack of confident basis data, which is why an experimental study is necessary. A simple testing arrangement with a photocamera and flashlight in stroboscopic mode provides a convincing pictorial representation of movement and velocity. The method is described with some examples of applications by experts.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1989

[Micromorphology of rigor mortis in human skeletal muscle].

Following our examination on rat muscle, it was investigated, whether alterations, observed in semi thin sections and by TEM could be used for forensic purposes. Investigated were extension of stiffened muscles. Samples of various muscle groups were taken at different time intervals before and after breaking the rigor muscle fibers. They were examined by light and electron microscopy. Results on the development and spontaneous disappearance of rigor mortis during the early and intermediate post mortem period are almost equivalent to those found by experiments on animals. Results concerning the breaking of rigor mortis, however, are sometimes considerably more discrete and diverge substantially. Because of artifacts, especially during the transport of the corpse, the interpretation is more difficult. The use of other techniques combined with drawing out muscle samples immediately at the place, where the corpse is found, may optimize the results.

Humans↗
PubMed1989

[Traumatic rupture of the anterior communicating artery].

After a violent blow with the first into the face with fracture of the zygomatic bone, there was traumatic rupture of the only rudimentary anterior communicating artery owing to a rotation movement of the head. This resulted in fatal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Aneurysms and pathological wall lesions were not present. The appreciable alcoholization may have led to a reduction of the reflex functions of the head.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1989

[Morphology and vital reaction in heart injuries].

In injuries of the heart after action of blunt and sharp force as well as gunshot injuries, in particular the histological findings are also important with regard to survival time and capacity of action. Single observations have given rise to the impression that vital reactions occur here earlier (thrombocyte aggregates, leukocytic emigration, formation of clots) than is the case in other organs. Systematic investigations of 48 cases amongst 373 heart injuries (3.9% of 11,342 autopsies, from 1983 to the last quarter of 1988) from the Institute for Forensic Medicine of the University of Munich as well as occasional cases from the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Free University of Berlin did not show any leukocytic reactions in light microscopy with no or short survival time. In electron microscopic terms, leukocytic reactions, thrombocyte aggregates or deposits of fibrin were not to be discerned even in heart injuries which were survived for a short time. However, high-grad contractions and condensations of the muscle fibers with filamentous evaginations into which the mitochondria were pressed were shown characteristically. These alterations indicated a vital process, but they may possibly also occur even in the earliest supravital phase. In a total of 25 cases with confirmed survival time between 30 minutes and five days, cell reactions were shown which largely corresponded to the familiar time course. A prematurely occurring reaction was not to be observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cell Survival↗
PubMed1987

[Injuries of the large arteries of the brain and vital reactions. An electron microscopy study].

In 90 forensic autopsies (Craniocerebral injury, gunshot, stabbing, blow, strangulation, etc.), semithin sections of great arteries were prepared from around 770 Epon blocks and checked for vital reactions at the mural and intimal ruptures. In 21 cases in which death had occurred immediately or soon after the trauma, with three exceptions, there was a subsequent electron microscopic investigation. In all six mural ruptures and in five of ten intimal ruptures, thrombocyte aggregates were found at the rupture margins. In five intimal ruptures, the possibility of the occurrence of preparations injuries had to be considered. In five cases, the results of the histological study were negative. The success rate is limited in principle in such a screening test since there are technical difficulties in preparing serial sections on long vessels. Death was rapid and the thrombocytes were observed to adhere to the injured wall sites immediately after the trauma. The "thrombocyte sign" is thus of substantial importance as the earliest local vital reaction. In two control cases (strangulation), thrombocyte aggregates were found at intimal ruptures of the basilar artery, which were regarded as the results of stretching via the vertebral arteries during attacks to the neck. The healing processes of intimal ruptures and traumatic medial necrosis in incomplete ruptures occurring later in life are discussed. Even if a cadaver is a few days old, the histological findings at the level of the thrombocytes can be evaluated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

[The phenomenology and morphology of spontaneous fatal cerebral aneurysmal hemorrhages].

Hemorrhages from rupturing aneurysms in the main cerebral arteries are repeatedly the object of forensic dissection. The victims are often relatively young, death is sudden and unexpected, and there is no known history of serious illness. Of a total 62,888 dissections carried out by the Institut für Rechtsmedizin of the Free University of Berlin (1956-1984), the University of Hamburg (1970-1984), and the University of Munich (1964-1984), there were 246 such cases (0.39% of the dissected material); 122 were male and 124 female. To compare possible differences between these cases and clinically conducted autopsies with regard to localization and extent of the aneurysm, age and sex of the deceased, an evaluation of the dissected material of the Department of Neuropathology, University Hospital, Hamburg-Eppendorf (1960-1984) was carried out simultaneously in altogether 160 cases, 66 male and 94 female. The phenomena are discussed. In the morphological findings, particular attention is focused on the occasional difficulty in establishing the source of the hemorrhage, which is of crucial importance when differentiating from traumatically caused hemorrhages. Some specific, particularly problematic causes (e.g., where errors were made in medical treatment), are presented in the form of case histories.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

[Fatal epidural hemorrhage after a 2-week interval].

This in a report on a 15-year old school girl who sustained a skull fracture after a fall. Apart from an initial syncope and signs of commotio cerebri no severe cerebral deficiencies were apparent. She died suddenly soon after her discharge and 2 weeks after the accident. The officially confirmed cause of death (based on autopsy by order of a court) was an epidural hemorrhage. This hemorrhage originated from a reruptured traumatic pseudoaneurysma of the arteria meningea media. The morphological findings are presented. The legal problems are discussed especially in the light of recently re-introduced conservative treatment of epidural hemorrhage diagnosed by computed tomography.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

[Student tragedy. Forensic-psychiatric and legal medicine aspects of an unusual crime].

The unusual circumstances of the violent killing of an 18-year-old girl by her 18.8-years-old schoolfriend led us to undertake a forensic-psychiatric analysis of the offence action as well as a presentation of legal-medical points of view. The crime, which can be classified as a collective lover crime for which there is no parallel in the literature, was only solved 9 months later when one of the two delinquents confessed a further offence. The killing was planned and prepared, the victim being buried hurriedly in a previously made hole in a wood after she had been strangled.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Brain-stem injury and long survival--a forensic analysis.

Out of 1781 autopsies undertaken on fatal head in injuries over a period of 19 years (1960-1979) there were 387 cases with brain-stem lesions; 15 of these had survived more than one month. Detailed macroscopic and microscopical studies showed different types of damage, which could not be explained by secondary processes only. The cases are demonstrated and discussed from the forensic viewpoint.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

[Malignant hyperthermia following an old gunshot head injury].

A case of symptomatic malignant hyperthermia is reported involving a 35-year-old man who suffered a serious cerebral injury after a gunshot to the head and who died from hyperthermia (41.5 degrees C) and tachycardia 1.5 days after dental treatment under general anesthesia. The sceletal muscles did not show any changes that would indicate a myopathy, the CPL value was normal, there was also no familial factor in this case. It is taken as an opportunity here to point out that such a case must not end fatally since there is a drug on the market in the meantime (Dantrolen) which is to be administered i.v. This medication acts causally on the membrane disturbances (release of calcium ions by appropriate trigger substances) which are the underlying cause of the malignant hyperthermia.

Adult↗