M. Mustafa Arslan

Increased drug seizures in Hatay, Turkey related to civil war in Syria

BACKGROUND: Turkey is an important country for drug trafficking and the cultivation of cannabis. Opiates from Afghanistan are trafficked through Turkey on route to the Balkans. Currently Hatay, a Syrian neighborhood city of Turkey, is hosting over 85,000 Syrian refugees who are escaping from the civil war. In this short report, we document the potential effects of conflict and related refugee movements in Hatay, on the seizures of illicit drugs. METHODS: We collected records held by the Ministry of Justice, Hatay Court House, of drug seizures between 2008 and 2013. RESULTS: These records show an annual and stable number of drug indictments between 2008 and 2010 (N=67). However, this number rose exponentially after the start of the conflict in Syria: an increase of 84% from 2010 to 2011 (N=123), with continuing and significant increases in 2012 (N=240) and 2013 (N=211). CONCLUSION: The lack of security and the instability in Syria, and the flow of refugees from this country have resulted in an increasing number of illicit drug seizures. These findings suggest the need for better intervention and greater precautions taken against drug trading in conflict zones and the countries surrounding these zones. Language: en

Forensic geriatric deaths in Adana, Turkey

The World Health Organization describes geriatric age group as the population aged 65 years or older. Parallel with the development of medical and technological areas, the life expectancy gets longer and geriatric population has been dramatically increasing. In this respect, geriatric deaths are frequently encountered due to increasing risk factors and pathophysiological changes in aging process. The records of the Forensic Medicine Institution Adana Group Authority Morgue Specialty Office were used. Death certificates and autopsy records of 9007 cases autopsied between the years of 1998 and 2007 were examined retrospectively. Seven hundred and twenty-six geriatric age (>or=65 years) deaths were taken in the scope of the study. All of the cases were analyzed with regard to age, sex, cause of death, incident place, and the place and origin of death. Geriatric deaths comprised 8.1% (726 cases) of all the medico-legal autopsy cases (9007) during these ten years. Of all geriatric deaths, 73.8% (536) were male while 26.2% (190) were female. Ages of cases were between 65 and 96 years, and the mean age was 72.3. Majority (310 cases, 42.7%) of deaths were by natural causes, while this was followed by accidental deaths with 227 cases (31.4%). This study was aimed to discuss the general features of geriatric deaths accepted as forensic cases, in the light of the literature.

Firing Distance Estimates with Pellet Dispersion from Shotgun with Various Chokes: An Experimental, Comparative Study

Abstract:  There are several studies suggesting models for firing distance estimation due to pellet dispersion, but few of them consider the degree of choke of a shotgun. The purpose of this research is to suggest some models for estimation of the firing distance for choked and cylinder bore shotguns. Twelve gauge with full chokes, and 12 and 16 gauge with cylinder bore shotguns were fired with #2 and #5 shots from 75, 100, 300, 500, and 1000 cm distances. Statistically significant pellet dispersion values were found for each shotgun by using #2 and #5 shots for different firing distances. All the data obtained were analyzed with linear regression and four models were constituted. Investigators should use special formulae for each shotgun, degree of choke, and pellet type while determining the firing distance. Therefore, more experimental and comparative studies should be designed for each type.

Analysis of methanol and its derivatives in illegally produced alcoholic beverages

INTRODUCTION Illegal alcohol production remains as a common issue worldwide. Methanol poisoning mostly occurs because of the methanol used in production of counterfeit alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol due to its low price or by drinking the liquids containing methyl alcohol. Pectolytic enzymes results in an increase of methanol levels in many fermentation products such as ciders or wines. Methanol poisonings are infrequently encountered in forensic medicine practice. However, sporadic cases due to methanol intoxication as well as epidemic cases have been reported. In this study, we aimed to identify existence of methanol and its metabolites in illegally produced alcoholic beverages used in Antakya region. MATERIAL AND METHODS Twelve legally produced alcohol samples and Fifty-six different illegally produced alcohol samples were collected from the markets and local producers. Existence of methanol, formic acid, methyl amine, methyl formate and trioxan were determined using GC-MS method in these samples. RESULTS Fifty-six different illegal alcohol samples were analyzed in this study and methanol was detected in 39 (75%) of samples. Formic acid was detected in 3, formamide in 1, methyl amine in 6, methyl formate in 10 and trioxan in 2 samples. CONCLUSION Overwhelming majority of illegal alcoholic beverages was detected to contain methanol. Interestingly this study also revealed the presence of trioxane, which has not previously reported among toxic agents in illegal alcohol samples.

Missed injuries in explosion-related deaths

In this study we aim to compare clinical diagnoses and post-mortem diagnoses of explosion-related deaths and identify the unrevealed diagnoses missed by physicians. Forensic autopsy reports of three years between January 2012 and December 2014 were collected retrospectively and 277 explosion-related deaths are included in the study. Out of 277 cases, 245 (88.4%) of them are male and 32 (11.6%) of them are female. The mean age is 27.8 years. The mean injury severity score is 37.8 ± 14.54.90 and 32.5% of the cases died in the first 24 h after getting injured. The most frequent injury is head injury (39.0%) and the second most frequent is injuries to multiple body regions (27.8%). Of eight cases of lower extremity injuries, six were found to have injuries of large vessels in post-mortem examinations. Our conclusion is that injury severity scores in cases of explosion-related injuries are higher than those in cases of general trauma. The frequency of missed diagnoses is higher in cases of vessel injuries and multiple injuries. It can be thought that small but lethal lesions can be overlooked when a major trauma is dealt with. In addition, injuries of the internal organs due to blast effects without any macroscopic examination findings can be misleading for physicians.