Paper I

30 August 2007

(3 hours)

A charred body is found in a burnt out motorcar wreck. a) Briefly discuss how you would determine at autopsy whether the deceased person was alive at the time the fire started. Also indicate which special investigations can be used for this purpose. (5) Briefly discuss artifacts, found at the autopsy of a charred body, caused by the heat exposure. (5) Briefly discuss the identification of a charred body. (5) [15]

b) c)

Name and briefly discuss the pathogenesis of signs that you might find in the face of a deceased strangled with a tie. (8) b) Discuss the mechanisms of death in strangulation. (9) c) Briefly discuss the relevance of gunpowder tattooing on the skin in association with an entrance gunshot wound caused by a 9 mm handgun. Make use of annotated sketches where necessary. (8) [25] Briefly define a) b) c) d) e) Post mortem lividity. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (SIDS) Unnatural death. Tramline bruises. Pseudo-tattooing. (3) (3) (3) (3) (3) [15]

a)

Discuss sudden unexpected death in adults as to a) b) c) definition and common causes, history to be obtained, and autopsy approach, including special investigations. (5) (3) (7) [15]

Briefly describe the macroscopic features at autopsy in cases of a) b) c) An electrical burn. Hypothermia. Chemical burns. (5) (5) (5) [15] [15]

What do you understand by the term anaesthetic associated deaths?

Paper II

30 August 2007

(3 hours)

You are called to a scene of a murder to determine the time of death. Answer the following related questions a) b) How can rigor mortis be helpful in determining death interval? Refer to relevant time intervals that can be used as a spot check. (8) You determine the body temperature to be 31oC with the ambient temperature being 10 oC. Use the following table to determine the death interval: Please show all calculations. (4) o Ambient temperature in C 0 5 10 15 20 Factor 1 1,25 1,5 1,75 2 Describe the effect of rigor mortis on the Erector Pili muscles. (3) [15]

c) 2

Regarding complications of injuries, briefly discuss the following a) b) c) Causes of venous air embolism. Pathophysiological mechanism(s) of death in venous air embolism. Causes and pathogenesis of fat embolism syndrome. (5) (4) (6) [15]

A foetus, slightly decomposed, was retrieved from a dumping site and presented to you as Forensic Medical Examiner. Briefly describe how you will determine the following (7) (8) [15] Discuss the autopsy findings in drowning and the different mechanisms of death. [15] Tabulate and compare the findings of gunshot entry wound of the forehead by a handgun at the following ranges: contact, near contact, intermediate and distant. [15] Tabulate the essential differences between the following (5) (5) [10] Discuss your autopsy approach to a victim of alleged fatal poisoning, with particular reference to the collection of specimens. [15] a) b) Acute-mortem and postmortem blood clots. Subdural and epidural haematomas. a) b) The gestation period of the foetus. Whether this was a live- or still birth.