Forensic Pathology

Description

Forensic Pathology, the latest volume in the Advanced Forensic Science series that grew out of the recommendations from the 2009 NAS Report serves as a graduate level text for those studying and teaching forensic pathology, and is an excellent reference for forensic pathologists’ libraries or for use in their casework.

Coverage includes postmortem interval, autopsy, trauma, causes of death, identification, and professional issues. Edited by a world-renowned leading forensic expert, this series provides a long overdue solution for the forensic science community.

A graduate level text-reference for those studying or teaching forensic pathology that is an excellent reference for casework

Key Features

• Provides basic principles of forensic science and an overview of forensic pathology
• Contains sections on postmortem interval, autopsy, trauma, causes of death, and identification
• Includes a section on professional issues, such as crime scene to court, expert witness testimony, health and safety, deaths in custody, and suicide
• Incorporates effective pedagogy, key terms, review questions, discussion questions, and additional reading suggestions

Max Houck

Dr. Max M. Houck is an internationally-recognized forensic expert with research interests in forensic science, education, and the forensic enterprise and its industries. He has worked in all aspects of forensic science, including at the FBI Laboratory. Dr. Houck has published widely in books and peer-reviewed journals. His anthropology and trace evidence casework includes the Branch Davidian Investigation, the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon, the D.B. Cooper case, the US Embassy bombings in Africa, and the West Memphis Three case, among hundreds of others. He served for six years as the Chair of the Forensic Science Educational Program Accreditation Commission (FEPAC). Dr. Houck is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a founding Co-Editor of the journal Forensic Science Policy and Management.

Affiliations and Expertise

Vice President, Forensic and Intelligence Services, LLC

Contents

• Published and Forthcoming Titles in the Advanced Forensic Science Series
• Senior Editor: Biography
• List of Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Section 1. Overview
• Introduction
• Principles of Forensic Science
• What Is Forensic Science?
• The Trace as the Basic Unit of Forensic Science
• Two Native Principles
• Nonnative Principles
• See also
• Forensic Classification of Evidence
• Introduction
• Methods of Classification
• Class Level Information
• Uniqueness and Individualization
• Relationships and Context
• See also
• Interpretation/The Comparative Method
• Introduction
• Analogy and Comparison within a Forensic Process
• The Comparative Method within Forensic Science
• See also
• Clinical Forensic Medicine—Overview
• Introduction
• Clinical Examination of Living Victims
• Injuries of Surviving Victims and of Assailants Following Attempted Manual or Ligature Strangulation
• Medical Hazards in Police Custody
• Torture
• See also
• Forensic Pathology—Principles and Overview
• Introduction
• Role of the Forensic Pathologist
• Medicolegal Systems and Investigation of Deaths
• Aims of Medicolegal Autopsy
• Cause of Death
• Manner of Death
• Medicolegal Autopsy
• External Examination
• Internal Examination
• Importance of Additional Investigations
• Evidentiary Material Collected at Autopsy
• Attendance of a Forensic Pathologist at the Scene of Crime/Death
• Conclusion
• See also
• History of Forensic Sciences
• See also
• Key Terms
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Section 2. Postmortem Interval
• Introduction
• Postmortem Interval
• Entomology
• Botany
• Other Animal and Cultural Indicators
• Tissue Morphology
• Mummification
• Adipocere
• Chemical Approaches
• Radiocarbon Analysis
• See also
• Early and Late Postmortem Changes
• Introduction
• Supravitality
• Mechanical Excitability of the Muscle
• Electrical Excitability of the Skeletal Muscle
• Pharmacological Excitability of the Iris
• Algor Mortis, Postmortem Body Cooling
• Postmortem Changes
• Preservation of Decomposing Bodies
• Preservation Processes in Cadavers
• See also
• Estimation of the Time Since Death
• Introduction
• Temperature of Corpses
• Rectal Temperature Time of Death Nomogram
• Brain Temperature Time of Death Nomogram(s1)
• Field Studies
• Cooling Dummy
• Compound Method
• Further Methods
• Putrefaction
• Putrefaction in Water
• Immunohistochemical Detection of Insulin, Thyroglobulin, and Calcitonin
• See also
• Vital Reactions and Wound Healing
• Physiology of Skin Wound Healing
• Principles of Forensic Wound Age Estimation
• See also
• Key Terms
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Section 3. Autopsy
• Introduction
• External Postmortem Examination
• Introduction
• External Examination before Death Certification
• Determination of Death/Death and Dying
• Apparent Death
• Brain Death
• Time Since Death
• Determining the Cause of Death
• Consistency between Cause of Death Diagnosis on the Death Certificate and Following Autopsy
• Manner of Death
• Problem Areas
• See also
• Autopsy
• Short Historical Overview
• The Present Use of Autopsy
• See also
• Histopathology
• Brief Historical Introduction to Histopathology
• Pathology/Histopathology as a Medical Specialty
• Autopsy Histopathology
• Forensic Histopathology
• Quality
• Guidelines
• Methods
• Histopathological Diagnosis
• Histological Findings as Forensic Evidence
• Problem Areas
• See also
• Postmortem Imaging
• Introduction
• Postmortem Changes: Gas and Fluids
• Fluid
• Gunshot
• Explosion
• Sharp Trauma
• Suffocation and Strangulation
• Deceleration Trauma, Compression, Blunt Trauma, and Blows
• Water-Logged Corpse, Drowning, and Aspiration
• Sudden Death
• Identification
• Reanimation
• Invasive Medicine and Care
• Child Abuse, Infanticide, Neonaticide, and Stillbirth
• Conclusion
• See also
• Key Terms
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Section 4. Trauma
• Introduction
• Blunt Injury
• Introduction
• Blunt Injuries to the Integument
• Head Injuries
• Injuries of the Chest
• Abdominal Injuries
• Injuries to the Extremities
• See also
• Burns and Scalds
• Introduction
• External Findings
• Internal Findings
• Toxicology
• Histology
• Diagnosis of Vitality
• Determination of the Cause of Death
• Scalds
• External Findings
• Internal Findings
• See also
• Asphyctic Deaths—Overview and Pathophysiology
• Introduction
• Signs of Asphyxia
• Mechanisms of Asphyxia
• Suffocation
• Smothering
• Plastic Bag Asphyxia
• Choking
• Compression of the Neck
• Traumatic (Crush) Asphyxia
• Burking
• Positional and Restraint Asphyxia
• Drowning
• Autoerotic Sexual Asphyxia
• The Choking Game
• Chemical Asphyxiants
• Conclusions
• See also
• Strangulation
• Airway Occlusion
• Compression of the Cervical Arteries
• Occlusion of the Neck Veins
• Autopsy Findings
• Reflex Mechanisms
• Hanging
• Strangulation by Ligature
• Manual Strangulation
• See also
• Traumatic and Postural Asphyxia, Physical Restraint
• Traumatic Asphyxia
• Postural or Positional Asphyxia
• Restraint Asphyxia
• Other Mechanical Asphyxia Cases
• Mechanical Asphyxia During Institutional Restraint
• Incaprettamento
• Burking
• Constrictor Snakes
• See also
• Immersion Deaths
• Introduction
• Physiopathology
• Autopsy Findings
• Histology
• The Biochemical Markers
• The Diatom Test
• Conclusion
• See also
• Sharp Trauma
• Introduction
• Epidemiology
• Wound Morphology and Biomechanics
• Incised Wounds: Cuts and Slashes
• Stab Wounds
• Chop Wounds
• Injuries from Glass
• The Physics and Dynamics of Stabbing
• Sequelae and Causes of Death
• Homicide, Suicide, and Accident
• Capability of Acting
• See also
• Systemic Response to Trauma
• Introduction
• Systemic Responses Immediately Caused by Traumas
• Shock: A Systemic Response to Traumas in Acute Phase
• Advanced Systemic Responses to Traumas in Early Phase
• Delayed Complications
• See also
• Gunshot Wounds
• Introduction
• Wound Ballistics
• Criminalistic Aspects
• Entrance and Exit Wounds
• Classification of Entrance Wounds in Relation to the Range from Muzzle to Target
• Shotgun Injuries
• Internal Findings
• Forensic Examination and Documentation
• Manner of Death
• Injuries Caused by Explosives
• See also
• Domestic Violence
• Introduction
• Definition
• Epidemiology
• Diagnosis of DV
• Aspects for the Criminal Prosecution
• Sexual Violence and DV
• Conclusions
• See also
• Child Abuse
• Introduction
• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• The Interpretation of Medical Findings
• Recording the Findings in Possible Child Abuse Cases
• Interpretation of Findings
• See also
• Defense Wounds
• Introduction
• Defense Wounds from Knife Attacks
• Defense Wounds due to Blunt Force
• Defense Wounds from Other Weapons
• Misleading Findings Similar to Defense Wounds
• See also
• Self-Inflicted Injury
• Introduction
• Simulation of Criminal Offenses
• Self-Mutilation for the Purpose of Insurance Fraud
• Voluntary Self-Mutilation and/or Malingering among Prisoners and Soldiers
• Artifacts in Patients with Psychic Disturbances or Mental Diseases
• Attempted Suicide
• See also
• Torture
• Introduction
• Forms
• Fingers
• Hands and Arms
• Foot and Leg
• Head
• Neck
• Trunk
• Electric Torture
• Psychological Torture
• Diagnosis and Differential Diagnosis
• Ethics
• Conclusion
• See also
• Traffic Injuries and Deaths
• Road Traffic
• Railway
• Air Traffic
• See also
• Key Terms
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Section 5. Causes of Death
• Introduction
• Sudden Natural Death
• Definition
• Criminalistic Aspects
• Special Categories
• Classification According to the Morphological Substrate
• See also
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Introduction
• Definition
• Epidemiology and Risk Factors
• Results of Autopsy
• Typical Macroscopic Findings
• Histological Changes
• Postmortem Investigation
• Death Scene
• Autopsy
• Clinical History
• Cause of Death
• Hypotheses of Possible Causes of SIDS
• See also
• Hyperthermia and Hypothermia
• Introduction
• Hyperthermia
• Hypothermia
• See also
• Electrocution and Lightning Strike
• Introduction
• Low-Voltage Effects
• Electric Burn
• High-Voltage Effects
• Lightning Strikes
• See also
• Deaths Associated with Medical Procedures
• Introduction
• An Overview of Procedural Complications Commonly Encountered in Forensic Practice
• The Forensic Evaluation of Periprocedural Deaths
• Conclusion
• See also
• Neonaticide
• Introduction
• Incidence
• Methods
• Conclusion
• See also
• Key Terms
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Section 6. Identification
• Introduction
• Identification
• Introduction
• Part I. Unidentified Cadavers
• Part II. Personal Identification: Comparison between Antemortem and Postmortem Data
• Conclusions
• Well-Preserved Body
• Putrefied, Burnt, Partly, or Completely Skeletonized Human Remains
• See also
• Forensic Age Estimation
• Introduction
• Age Estimation in Adolescents and Young Adults
• Age Diagnostics in Child Victims in Child Pornographic Image Documents
• Age Diagnostics in Older Adults for Clarification of Pension Entitlements
• Conclusions
• See also
• Personal Identification in Forensic Anthropology
• Introduction
• Personal Identification
• Types of Personal Identification
• Methods of Scientific Identification
• Possible Conclusions in a Scientific Identification
• Methods Contributing to Identification
• Conclusion
• See also
• Identification of the Living
• Glossary
• Introduction
• Facial Assessment
• Further Features on the Skin, Hands, and Genitals
• Appendix Morphological Assessment of Facial Features: The DMV Atlas
• See also
• The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
• Introduction
• See also
• Disaster Victim Identification
• Introduction
• Management of DVI
• Principles of Identification
• Methods of Identification
• Evaluation of Identification Data
• Conclusions
• See also
• Airplane Crashes and Other Mass Disasters
• Definition
• Tasks
• See also
• Key Terms
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Section 7. Professional Issues
• Introduction
• Crime Scene to Court
• Introduction
• Task
• Models
• Forensic Strategies
• Integrated Case Management
• Summary
• See also
• Expert Witness Qualifications and Testimony
• Introduction
• Selecting an Expert
• Qualifications
• Experience as an Expert Witness
• Education and Training
• Membership in Professional Associations
• Increased Scrutiny of Experts
• Weight of the Evidence
• Conclusion
• Health and Safety
• Occupational Health and Safety Policy
• Specific Laboratory Hazards
• Hazards in the Field
• See also
• Deaths in Custody
• Introduction
• Frequency of Death in Police Custody
• Distribution of Age and Gender
• Manner and Cause of Death
• Error Analysis for Deaths in Police Custody
• Forensic Assessment
• Criminal Prosecution in Cases of Death in Custody
• A Case History
• Prevention of Death in Custody
• See also
• Suicide
• Introduction
• Epidemiology
• Fundamentals and Definitions
• See also
• National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME)
• Introduction
• See also
• Key Terms
• Review Questions
• Discussion Questions
• Index