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Rebollada-Merino A, Gómez-Buendía A, Domínguez L, Rodríguez-Bertos A. Forensic investigations of suspected livestock depredation by vultures: scientific tools for compensation programmes. J Comp Pathol 2024; 209:22-30. [PMID: 38350269 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2024.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Human-wildlife conflicts may have devastating consequences for fauna due to targeting by humans of wildlife populations suspected to have predated livestock. Suspicion of depredation of extensively raised livestock by vultures in Europe has triggered public administration-led forensic investigations intended to distinguish between predation and scavenging in order to compensate farmers for attacks on their livestock. In this study, gross and histological analyses were carried out on suspected cases of domestic animal depredation by griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) over a 1-year period. Fifty-eight animals were affected (n = 41, suspected depredation), including domestic cattle (75.9%), sheep (22.4%) and a goat (1.7%). All the adults affected were female and most cases of suspected depredation occurred during the peripartum period (56%). Histological investigations distinguished between post-mortem (84% of diagnostic samples) and ante-mortem (16% of diagnostic samples) cases, and gross examinations revealed significant differences (P ≤ 0.002) between ante-mortem, post-mortem and non-diagnostic samples. This study highlights the need to optimize sampling protocols to increase the success of forensic studies. The forensic investigations presented here may be applied to resolve human-wildlife conflicts involving not only vultures but other endangered carnivores and contribute to human-wildlife coexistence in rural areas by protecting the interests of both the livestock sector and endangered species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Rebollada-Merino
- Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, 240 Farrier Rd, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
| | - Alberto Gómez-Buendía
- VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain; Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | - Lucas Domínguez
- VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain; Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
| | - Antonio Rodríguez-Bertos
- VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain; Department of Internal Medicine and Animal Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
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Beer T, Bäckström B, Ottosson A, Rietz A, Michard JF, Loisel J, Sandberg O, Eriksson A. The utility of histology in assessing the cause of death in medico-legal autopsies in selected trauma deaths: Suspension-, immersion-, fire-, and traffic-related. J Forensic Sci 2023; 68:509-517. [PMID: 36645694 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.15193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The goal of a medico-legal autopsy is primarily to determine the cause and manner of death. To this end, the pathologist often uses auxiliary analyses, including histology. However, the utility of routine histology in all medico-legal autopsies is unknown. Earlier studies on the utility of routine histology have shown inconsistent effects, with some studies recommending it and others rejecting it. To study the degree to which histology informs on the underlying cause of death, we sent autopsy reports from suspension-, immersion-, fire-, and traffic-related deaths to senior board-certified forensic pathologists and had them assess the cause of death, first without knowledge of the histological findings and then with knowledge thereof. Fifty cases were identified in each of four subgroups: fire-, immersion-, suspension-, and traffic-related deaths. The autopsy reports were anonymized, and the histological findings and conclusions were removed. Two board-certified forensic pathologists independently reviewed the reports in each subgroup and assessed the manner and underlying cause of death (including their certainty of this assessment on a five-level scale) with and without access to histological findings. The probability of changing the underlying cause of death posthistology was low in all study groups. There was a slight increase in the degree of certainty posthistology in cases where the underlying cause of death was not changed, but only when the antehistology certainty was low. Our results suggest that histology does not meaningfully inform on the underlying cause of death in suspension-, immersion-, fire-, and traffic-related deaths except when antehistology certainty is low.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torfinn Beer
- Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation/Forensic Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Björn Bäckström
- Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation/Forensic Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Anders Ottosson
- Unit for Forensic Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Anders Rietz
- Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation/Forensic Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | | | | | - Oscar Sandberg
- Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation/Forensic Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Anders Eriksson
- Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation/Forensic Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
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Delgado V, Topa N, Pires I. Veterinary Forensic Histopathology. Acad Forensic Pathol 2021; 11:72-74. [PMID: 34567325 DOI: 10.1177/19253621211015856] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Delgado
- University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
| | - Nuno Topa
- Genetic Department, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
| | - Isabel Pires
- Centro de Ciência Animal e Veterinária, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
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Patro J, Panda S, Mohanty N, Mishra US. The Potential of Light Microscopic Features of the Oral Mucosa in Predicting Post-mortem Interval. Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J 2021; 21:e34-e41. [PMID: 33777421 PMCID: PMC7968895 DOI: 10.18295/squmj.2021.21.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Revised: 06/21/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives The post-mortem interval (PMI) refers to the amount of time elapsed between death and discovery of the body. This study aimed to evaluate light microscopic cellular changes in the oral mucosa and identify the potential of this method for predicting PMI. Methods This prospective study was conducted between July 2016 and January 2018 at the Institute of Dental Sciences, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar, India. A total of 150 post-mortem (including 75 gingival and 75 buccal mucosa samples) and 40 ante-mortem (including 20 gingival and 20 buccal mucosa samples) tissue samples were compared using haematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and van Gieson stains. Microscopic changes in the epithelium and connective tissue were categorised according to PMI stage as early (<12.5 hours since death), intermediate (12.5–20.5 hours since death) or late (>20.5 hours since death). Results Most epithelial cellular changes occurred early, except for arc-shaped nuclei and epithelial shredding which were intermediate and late changes, respectively. However, microscopic changes in the connective tissue were only observable at ≥12.5 hours. There was a progressive decrease in intensity in van Gieson stains and an increase in intensity in PAS stains as PMI increased. Several microscopic features were found to be significant predictors of PMI including epithelial homogenisation, cytoplasmic vacuolation, nuclear degeneration, arc-shaped nuclei, chromatin clumping, red blood cell clumping and lysis, melanin incontinency, myofibril degeneration, salivary gland acini degeneration and epithelial connective tissue separation (P <0.050 each). Conclusion These findings indicate that microscopic evaluation of the oral mucosa may be helpful for PMI prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jagganath Patro
- Department of Oral Pathology & Microbiology, Institute of Dental Sciences, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
| | - Swagatika Panda
- Department of Oral Pathology & Microbiology, Institute of Dental Sciences, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
| | - Neeta Mohanty
- Department of Oral Pathology & Microbiology, Institute of Dental Sciences, Siksha 'O' Anusandhan deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
| | - Uma S Mishra
- Department of Management, School of Commerce & Management, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, India
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Chatzopoulos K, Treeck BV, Venable E, Serla V, Wirth T, Amirahmadi F, Peterson A, Lin PT. Formalin pigment artifact deposition in autopsy tissue: predisposing factors, patterns of distribution and methods for removal. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 2020; 16:435-441. [PMID: 32201924 DOI: 10.1007/s12024-020-00240-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Formalin pigment deposition is a known artifact of autopsy histology, often anecdotally associated with decomposition of bodies. However, there is minimal data within the forensic literature demonstrating an association between formalin pigment deposition and length of postmortem interval. Furthermore, there is minimal data concerning other predisposing factors and patterns of distribution of formalin pigment deposition. In this study, we compare the amount and patterns of formalin deposition on histology slides from three categories of death: 1) decomposed bodies, 2) critically ill at time of death, and 3) sudden cardiac death. We also compare the effectiveness of two relatively simple histology laboratory methods to remove formalin pigment deposition from histology slides. Amongst the three categories of death, formalin deposition was highest in the decomposed category, second highest in the critically ill category, and lowest in the sudden cardiac death category. The organs most severely affected by formalin deposition were liver/spleen/pancreas and kidneys, and the organs least affected were brain and lung. Formalin pigment deposition correlated with length of postmortem interval. Histologic patterns of formalin deposition included the endothelial lining of vessels, perinuclear compartment of neurons and myocytes, and the basal epithelial compartment of renal tubular epithelial cells. The alcoholic ammonium hydroxide method (AAH) was slightly more effective than the alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) method for removing formalin pigment, though both methods were effective. Because formalin pigment is strongly refractile under polarized light, a polarization filter can also be useful for distinguishing formalin pigment from other pigments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Elise Venable
- Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Vishnu Serla
- Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Trenton Wirth
- Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Fazi Amirahmadi
- Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Alissa Peterson
- Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Peter T Lin
- Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
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