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Stab wounds of the chest caused by penetration of duralumin rods

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Abstract

Sharp force injuries are uncommon in routine forensic practice. While the majority of these cases are homicides or suicides, a significant minority of accidental deaths means that a careful investigation of the circumstances of the death is necessary. We present the case of a young man who presented with stab and cut injuries due to a duralumin rod embedded in his chest. Examination of the body revealed that death was due to penetration of the thoracic aorta by a duralumin rod. Careful investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death was able to confim a case of accidental death due to falling from a ladder onto tomato seedlings that were supported by duralumin rods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Medicine and Medical Law, University Hospital Olomouc, CZ-779 00, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    Klára Marecová

  2. Department of Forensic Medicine, University Hospital Ostrava, CZ-708 52, Ostrava, Czech Republic

    Matěj Uvíra, Marek Dokoupil & Petr Handlos

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Ostrava University, CZ-703 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic

    Marek Dokoupil

  4. Department of Intensive Medicine and Forensic Studies, Faculty of Medicine, Ostrava University, CZ-703 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic

    Petr Handlos

Authors
  1. Klára Marecová
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  2. Matěj Uvíra
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  3. Marek Dokoupil
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  4. Petr Handlos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Petr Handlos.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Marecová, K., Uvíra, M., Dokoupil, M. et al. Stab wounds of the chest caused by penetration of duralumin rods. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 14, 558–560 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-0004-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-0004-9

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