Progress in the Forensic Diagnosis 2.0

Dear Colleagues,

Forensic medicine came about with the formation of human society, and continues to be an indispensable medical subject. After World War II, forensic medicine made great progress with the introduction of blood typing. In recent years, diagnostic techniques have been further advanced by the introduction of DNA typing and CT machines.

Among forensic medicine, forensic pathology is a specific sector of pathology focalized on medico-legal investigations of sudden, unexpected, or unexplained death. The task of the forensic pathologist is primarily aimed at identifying causes of death and establishing the cause, circumstances, and time of death. Forensic pathology plays an important role in criminal investigation, and it classically involves the use of laboratory investigation (histopathology, immunohystochemistry, chemical analysis, genetic analysis DNA, entomological analysis, etc).

In recent years, great efforts have been made to identify and validate new reliable methods of investigation for an old problem, such as estimation of time of death (post-mortem interval (PMI)). Recent advances in molecular biology have led to various advances in the estimation of PMI. The degeneration of mRNA, DNA, and proteins are closely under investigation to outline their role in estimating PMI. Moreover, entomology analysis has been a routine practice for the estimation of PMI in the early and late postmortem periods.

On the other hand, great attention has been dedicated to the field of sudden juvenile death. Cardiac arrest in a young person can be caused by hereditary conditions, such as hypertrophic, dilated, and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies, or mutations that alter the proteins that control the heart rhythm causing diseases in which the patient’s heart, while appearing normal to clinical investigations, is predisposed to have serious arrhythmias (the so-called channelopathies: long QT syndrome and short QT, Brugada syndrome, and catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia). In this specific area of research, the contribution of forensic pathologists has been particularly significant.

This Special Issue aims to gather reports that will help to progress forensic diagnosis in the following fields:

• Pathology;
• Odontology;
• Radiology;
• Anthropology;
• Toxicology;
• Body fluid analysis;
• DNA analysis;
• Traffic science.

Related Special issue "Progress in the Forensic Diagnosis" and previous papers:

Application of Innovative TGA/Chemometric Approach for Forensic Purposes: The Estimation of the Time since Death in Contaminated Specimens

Evaluation of Parameters for Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Skeletal Remains Using Bovine Femurs: A Pilot Study

Post-Mortem Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for the Diagnosis of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Spectrophotometric Color Measurement to Assess Temperature of Exposure in Cortical and Medullar Heated Human Bones: A Preliminary Study

Hypo-Expression of Flice-Inhibitory Protein and Activation of the Caspase-8 Apoptotic Pathways in the Death-Inducing Signaling Complex Due to Ischemia Induced by the Compression of the Asphyxiogenic Tool on the Skin in Hanging Cases

Proteomics in Deaths by Drowning: Diagnostic Efficacy of Apolipoprotein A1 and α-1 Antitrypsin, Pilot Study

Both Autopsy and Computed Tomography Are Necessary for Accurately Detecting Rib Fractures Due to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

A Proposed Procedure for Discriminating between Nasal Secretion and Saliva by RT-qPCR

Estimation of Cadaveric Age by Ultrasonography

Time Flies—Age Grading of Adult Flies for the Estimation of the Post-Mortem Interval

MicroRNAs as Useful Tools to Estimate Time Since Death. A Systematic Review of Current Literature

MicroRNAs: An Update of Applications in Forensic Science

Postmortem Protein Degradation as a Tool to Estimate the PMI: A Systematic Review

Current Methods for Body Fluid Identification Related to Sexual Crime: Focusing on Saliva, Semen, and Vaginal Fluid

New Frontiers and Old Challenges: How to Manage Incidental Findings When Forensic Diagnosis Goes Beyond

 

Prof. Dr. Hiroshi Ikegaya
Prof. Dr. Marco Di Paolo
Guest Editors

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